his Grace and Mercy he presently falleth down before Him in an humble acknowledgment of his Sinnes unto him This will he do at his first Conversion and this he is ready ever after to do upon all Occasions renewing his Acknowledgements of sinne as sinnes themselves are renewed So did David I acknowledged my Transgressions saith he in the Text forenamed Psal. 51. 3. And to whom was it that he acknowledged them Why firstly and principally to his God whom he had offended So he explaines it in the verse following Against thee onely have I sinned that is against him immediately and properly And therefore to him it is that he acknowledged his Sinne. So he elsewhere declareth it Psal. 32. 5. I acknowledged my Sinne unto Thee and mine Iniquity have I not hid I said I will confess my Transgressions unto the Lord c. And this will every truly Penitent sinner readily do Apprehending how he hath offended and provoked his God by his sins he will be ready to acknowledge them unto him And this will he do as I said both Publickly and Privately Publickly joyning with the Congregation in the publick confession and acknowledgment of Sinness and that both in Confessions ordinary and extraordinary And as Publickly so Privately when there is no other witnesse but God and his own Conscience then will he be ready to acknowledge his Sinnes And that again both in his daily and ordinary Prayers as also at other times of extraordinary Humiliation All these I might show you how they have been both injoyned and practised injoyned by God and practised by his Saints But I shall not dwell upon this the Text leading me rather to that other kind of Acknowledgement which is before or unto Men. And thus true Penitents will be ready to acknowledge their Sinnes And that as I said sometimes Secretly sometimes Openly 1. Secretly or Privately either unto the Ministers of God or unto private Christians viz. at such times as they are by them charged with their Sins and in a friendly way Admonished of them or Reproved for them In this case for I speak not now of that Confession of Sinnes which is after a sort extorted and drawn from a man by or through trouble of Mind and Conscience in which Christians not onely may but ought when other means avail not to repair either unto the Ministers of God as most fit for such a purpose being his Interpreters or else to some wise and faithful Friend that is able to minister a word of Advice and Comfort to them opening and discovering their Sinnes unto them even as the Sick man doth his secret troubles to his Physitian or Chirurgion I speak not of this now but onely of the Acknowledgement of Sin unto others when it is charged upon them by way of Admonition or Reprehension In this case I say the Soul that is truly Penitent for sin will be ready to confess and acknowledge it So was it with David Nathan no sooner cometh unto him and chargeth his sin upon him discovering to him the heinousness of it but presently he makes confeson of it I have sinned against the Lord 2 Sam. 12. 13. This would not Saul do When Samuel cometh unto him in the like way charging him with that act of disobedience of his in sparing Agag the best of the spoil contrary to God's expresse Commandement he was far from any such ingenuous acknowledgment but doth what he could to hide it as we may see 1 Sam. 15. 13 14 15. Thus wicked and ungodly men being charged with their sins they will either hide them by denying them or defend them or excuse them or extenuate them what they can it may be falling out and quarrelling with the persons that shall strike upon this string medling with their sins So did Cain with God himself when the Lord came to him and asked him where his Brother was whom he had murdered he replieth I know not Am I my Brothers keeper Gen. 4. 9. First seeking to hide his sin then quarrelling with his Maker who came to charge it upon him And even so are some too many ready to deal with the Ministers of God when they come to touch upon their sins whether publickly or privately they are ready to quarrel with them about it as if they took too much upon them So did the people of Israel upon whom the Prophet Hosea among other their great sins that they were guilty of chargeth this as the chief This people are as they that strive with the Priest Hos. 4. 4. They would endure no reproover no though it were a Priest or Prophet a Minister of God that had Authoritie from him to do what he did Thus are some ready to oppose the Ministers of Christ who though they be their spiritual Physitians yet they will not endure that they should meddle with their diseases which if they do it may be they will ever after hate and maligne them as Ahab did Micaiah And hating them they will smite them with their tongues and be ready to contrive what mischief against them they may So did the Iews against their Ieremiah as himself sets it forth Ier. 18. 18. Then said they Come and let us devise devices against Ieremiah c. Come and let us smite him with the tongue and let us not give heed to any of his words So is it with presumptuous sinners But it is far otherwise with those that are truely penitent They being in themselves convinced of their sinnes they will be ingenuous in the confessing and acknowledging of them when they are charged upon them by way of Admonition or Reprehension whether by the Minister of God or any other And as they will be ready to do this secretly and privately so also openly and publiquely And that 1. In a Regular way if called thereunto and required to do it by the Discipline and Authority of the Church Thus did that incestuous Corinthian being Excommunicated for that great sinne of his he manifests his repentance by acknowledging of his sinne and by his abundant sorrow for it Whereupon lest he should be surcharged and swallowed up therewith the Apostle willeth the Church to forgive him to receive him to Communion and to comfort him 2 Cor. 2. 7. And such a confession and acknowledgment of sinne sinners truly penitent where the Censures of the Church are rightly dispensed according to Christs Institution neither ought to be nor yet will be averse from but ready to submit unto that so they may give satisfaction to the Church by the confession of their Sinnes and profession of their Repentance which they have by their evil Example offended and scandalized 2. But leaving that also the acknowledgment which the Text leadeth us more directly to as it is an open so an Arbitrary Acknowledgment And in this kind and way we shall find sinners truly penitent to be forward and ready to acknowledge their sins And that both upon their
Law Behold we our own faces in that Glass Bring our lives thither bring our hearts thither comparing the one with the other laying both to that Rule that so by the straightness of the one we may discover the obliquity and crookedness of the other Thus did Paul he brought himself his heart and life to the Law and by that means he came not onely to attain the knowledge of sinne in a general way but to see his own sinfulness the sinfulness of his Nature and the sinfulness of his Life as his former sinnes acted before his Conversion so the Body of sinne which still remained in hiâ—… In the sense and apprehension whereof he so passionately cryeth out in the close of that Chapter Rom. 7. 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O wretched man that I am Who shall deliver me from the body of this death Thus seek we after such a Conviction which till we attain we will never be brought to a right confession and acknowledgment of sin Thence was it that Nathan taketh this course with David First convincing him of his sinne which he doth by propounding to him the Parable of the Ewe-Lamb and so by that means brings him to that Confession which there he made 2 Sam. 12. 3dly Being convinced of sinne then in the third place seek after some measure of Compunction and Contrition that so we may not onely have a sight but an inward sense and feeling of our sinnes and so be humbled in the sense of them Paul did not only see a light shining about him and hear a voice speaking unto him but he was also struck to the ground as you have heard And so must a poor sinner be before ever he will be brought to a right confession of his sinnes Seek we for this also in measure This it was that drew Iohn the Baptist's and Peters and Pauls hearers to those open confessions which they made they were pricked in the hearts for their sinnes 4thly Being thus humbled for sinne and feeling some measure of Compunction now labour in the next place to get some apprehensions of mercy to raise up the Soul if not in the sense yet with the hope of Mâ—…cy Till this be done our confession will never be such as it ought to be It will never be Voluntary and Ingenuous till it be Filial Fear slavish fear it straitneth the heart causeth the spirits to retire and run inward as it were Apprehensions of Mercy will melt and inlarge and dissolve it as it were and so draw forth the Soul to free and ingenuous confessions and acknowledgments 5thly In the fifth and last place seek we unto God for that his free Spirit as David calleth it Psal. 51. 12. that That may be in us a spirit of confession It is that which the Lord maketh promise of to his people Zach. 12. 10. I will poure upon them the Spirit of Grace and Supplications His Spirit which is the gift of his Grace and therefore called the Spirit of Grace should so inwardly affect them with the sense of his Mercies as that they should freely poure out their Souls before Him in true penitent confessions of their own sinnes whereof formerly they had not been sensible And this Spirit seek we from God Even such a Spirit of Grace and Supplications which may put our hearts into such a confessing frame and temper as that they may be ready upon all occasions to break forth into humble and hearty confessions and acknowledgments of our sinnes both before God and Men. By this means it was that Paul was now become such a forward and ingenuous confessor of his own sinnes Which confessing he also censureth and that severely acknowledging himself not only a sinner but a great sinner yea the chief of sinners That is the third particular Branch of the general Observation to which I now come THe Penitent sinner as he is a frequent Remembrancer and a forward Confessour so also a severe Censurer severe in censuring of his own Sinnes and himself for them An Observation which I find the learned Grotius taking up from that parallel Text Luk. 5. 8. where Peter maketh the like Confession that Paul here doth Having seen that Miracle which Christ had wrought in blessing his labour beyond all expectation giving him such a draught of Fishes as the like he had never before seen or heard of he thereupon falleth down at his knees saying Depart from me I am a sinful man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Peccatosus a sinner a great sinner So much that word as you have formerly heard imports as we may take notice from that Text of Saint Peter 1 Pet. 4. 18. If the righteous scarsly be saved where shall the ungodly and sinner appear 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Where the word sinner being opposed to a Righteous person it imports a wicked and ungodly person with whom it is there joyned an habituated sinner So we find it used by our Apostle in the ninth verse of this Chapter whereof the Text is part Where he saith that the Law was not made for a righteous man but for the lawless and disobedient for the ungodly and for sinners for unholy and prophane Where by sinners we are to understand such as the rest there spoken of are wicked and ungodly unholy and prophane persons such as make a trade of sinne as Beza there expounds it Veluti aliquam peccandi artem exercentes such as the Poet Hesiod saith he calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as made sinne their work habituated and notorious sinners Now what Was Peter such a one Nothing lesse he was then a truly pious and godly Man as appears by his Demeanure to his Lord and Master Christ his readiness to do what ever he should command him which he professeth and practiseth in the verses foregoing vers 5. 6. How was it then that he should passe so severe a Censure upon himself that he was a sinner such a sinner a sinful man Why thus it is none are more ready to pass censures upon themselves than those that deserve them least Probi animi vel maximum â—…st indicium severissimam in se censuram exercere saith that Author There is not a greater Evidence of a Pious and Gracious Soul than to be severe in Censuring of it self Such a one was this our Apostle Saint Paul as the same Author there taketh notice of it paralleling him with Peter in this confession which here he maketh Notwithstanding that before his Conversion he was morally blameless in his life and conversation and now an eminent Saint yet he passeth this Censure upon himself that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first the chief of Sinners And such Censurers shall we find other of the Saints of God to have been severe in censuring of themselves Hence is it that in their Confessions and Acknowledgements we shall find them aggravating their sinnes to the heighth indeavouring what they could to express and set
forth the Heinousness the Greatness of them So we find David confessing and acknowledging of that sinne of his in Numbering of the People 2 Sam. 24. 10. His heart smiting him for what he had done he breaks forth into the Acknowledgement of it confessing that he had therein not onely sinned but greatly sinned And David said unto the Lord I have sinned greatly in that I have done And what was it that he had done Why he had caused the People through his Dominions to be numbered to have a Muster-role taken of all those that were fit to bear Armes if occasion should require it And what Was this so great a Sinne In appearance it was not it being no more than what out of a Politick respect he might do and what others before him in likely-hood had frequently and usually done But David knowing his own heart and being privy to his own intentions and aimes in doing what he did that he had done it not onely out of a Vain curiosity when as there was no need that he should do it but also out of a principle of Pride and carnal confidence having therein made flesh his Arm trusting in the Multitude of his People hereupon he not onely confesseth the sinne but censureth it as a very great sinne withall censuring himself to have therein done foolishly very foolishly as it followeth in the close of that Verse I have done very foolishly However in this action I seemed to my self to have been very prudent and politick yet now I see that it was no better than extream folly seeing I swerved out of the way of thy Commandements through pride and carnal confidence And not unlike is that other confession of his which he maketh in the matter of Uriah Psal. 51. where he not only in express tearms acknowledgeth the Fact which he had done his going into Bathsheba as he calleth it in the Title of the Psalme his committing Adultery with her but he aggravateth it to the full setting forth the Foulness and Heinousness of it which he doth by multiplying of words about it calling it Iniquity Transgression Sinne Evil an exaggeration of words serving and tending to the aggravation of his sinne Withal he accuseth and condemneth himself before God for that sinne clearing and justifying of him as touching what he had already done in taking away his Child so also touching what he had threatned by the Prophet Nathan that he would do unto him viz. That the Sword should never depart from his house 2 Sam. 12. 10. And so touching whatsoever else he should please to do unto him however he should punish him or his yet still he acknowledgeth how he had deserved all justifying of God This we shall find in the fourth verse of that Psalm where confessing how he had therein sinned against God Against thee thee onely have I sinned and done this evill-in thy sight he subjoyneth That thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest Which words are commonly and I think not amiss looked upon as a Reason why he thus made this confession to his God viz. That he might give unto him the glory of his Justice in what ever he had spoken and threatned against him or in what ever judgments and punishments he should lay and inflict upon him Such a severe Censurer was David of his own sinnes and of himself for them And the like shall we find in diverse others As in Daniel who confessing his own and the peoples sinnes Daâ—… 9. he first aggravateth them to that end multiplying of words as David there did making use of variety of expressions Vers. 5. We have sinned and committed iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled c. thereby setting forth both the multitude and magnitude of their sinnes Then he censures himself and them for them acknowledging what they had justly deserved thereby even shame and confusion of face O Lord saith he righteousness belongeth unto thee but unto us confusion of faces as at this day v. 7. which he repeats again in the verse following with some amplifications O Lord to us belongeth confusion of face to our Kings to our Princes and to our Fathers because we have sinned against thee Such a confession of sinne it is that King Solomon prescribes unto all penitent sinners 1 King 8. 47. If they shall repent and make supplication unto thee saying We have sinned and done perversly we have committed wickedness c. As if he should say We cannot sufficiently express how heinous our sins are And such confession being truly penitent they will be ready to make We see it in the Prodigal upon his return to his Father Luk. 15. 21. Father saith he I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy Son Where see how he first aggravateth his fault acknowledging that in what he had done he had sinned against Heaven that is against God who dwelleth in the Heavens not onely against his earthly Father whom he had immediately offended by his lewd and extravagant courses but also against his Heavenly Father whose Laws he had transgressed Then he passeth Censure upon himself adjudging and acknowledging himself worthy to be cast off by his Father unworthy to be any longer owned by him as his Son I am no more worthy to be called thy Son So far was he from excusing himself or from any wayes mincing or extenuating what he had done What ever others might think of it who might impute it to the levitie of his youth and so make leight of it he censures it and himself for it as deserving not onely a frown or a check from his Father but an utter abdication and abjection So severe will true Penitents be in Censuring of their own sinnes and themselves for them Looking upon themselves as vile unworthy wretches So did Iob Behold I am vile saith he Job 40. 4. He was so in his own eyes Abhorring themselves as he saith afterward of himself cap. 42. vers 6. Loathâ—…ng themselves in their own sight for all the â—…vills which they have done as the Lord â—…aith his people should do Ezek. 20. 43. 36. 31. viler than others Surely I am more brutish than any man saith wise Agur Prov. 30. 2. Thus severe are penitent sinners in censuring of themselves Q. And how is it that they are so A. To this I have as I remember returned some answer before giving you the heads of some Reasons for it Let me touch upon some of them again 1st They are best acquainted with themselves they know themselves Know ye not your own selves saith Paul to his Corinthians 2 Cor. 13. 5. This all Regenerate Persons in measure do Having their eyes opened to the beholding as of what they are by Grace to which end the Spirit it given them we have received the Spirit of God that we should know the things which are freely given us of God 1 Cor. 2.
of Hostility that he could upon his Subjects and that for his cause whom he thus Maligned that he would even have pulled Him out of his Throne if his power would have reached unto it Now this sin Christ pardoneth unto him giving him his Pardon under Seal assuring him of it And not only so but he receiveth him into special Grace and Favour with himself entertaining him as a Servant a Servant by Office admitts him to a place of near attendance preferring him to the highest Office in his Court to be an Apostle a chief Apostle conferring many great and signal Favours upon him No wonder then that he having now a true spirit of Ingenuitie in him such is the Spirit of God should look upon his former course as most vile most sinful and that he should thus deeply charge himself to be the chief of sinners The Story tells us of Peter how when at his Masters Command after so long labour in vain having as he saith toyled all the night and taken nothing he had again cast in his Net and thereupon haled such a wonderful draught of Fishes hereupon beholding the Power of Christ who hereby shewed that he had all the Fishes of the Sea at his command When he saw it he fell down at his knees saith the Text saying Depart from me for I am a sinful man O Lord Luk. 5. 8. Peter was a sinful man before and he knew himself so to be But now beholding the Power and Soveraignty of his Lord and Master thus wonderfully manifested this makes him reflect the more upon himself and so wrought in him a greater a deeper apprehension of his own vileness his own sinfulness And thus was it with this our Apostle St. Paul Having had greater experience as of the Power so of the Grace and Mercy of Christ than others in pulling him as a firebrand out of the flames in working so great a change in him this maketh him to reflect the more strongly upon his former course and breeds in him a deeper apprehension of the heinous and horrid nature of his former Practises causing him to charge himself so home as here he doth to accuse and condemn himself as the chief of sinners Thus he saw his own sinfulness more than the sinfulness of others being better acquainted with his own sins then with the sins of others 2. And again as he saw them so he felt them As for the sins of others he might see them or hear of them but he could not feel them His own he both saw and felt Seeing the foul and horrid nature of them he also felt the weight and burden of them which he did not of others And this again made him think his sins greater than the sins of any other Cuique gravissimum suum onus saith Aretius upon it Every one thinks his own burden heaviest which he carries upon his own shoulders his own Affliction the soarest and greatest Behold and see if there be any sorrow like my sorrow which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath Afflicted me saith the Church Lam. 1. 12. A man that is pained in the head or teeth or eyes as à Lapide illustrates it he is ready to say and think that there is no pain like his pain And he giveth this reason for it Because he knoweth his own pain by sense and experience and others only by speculation and report He heareth of the one but he feeleth the other and so he is most sensible of his own Even thus was it with the blessed Apostle here He had without question heard of the sins of others and he saw them to be great sins I but he feeleth his own He had felt the burden of his former sins and he still felt the weight of that body of sin which he yet carried about with him And this it was that made him thus to think and thus to speak of himself as the greatest the chiefest of sinners Behold here then the true disposition of a gracious Soul a Character of a truly penitent sinner He is frequent in remembring forward in acknowledging and seâ—…ere in censuring of his own sins All these we see in this chosen Vessel this blessed Apostle here in the Text who having occasion to make mention of sinners he presently reflects upon himself calling to remembrance his own sins and remembring them he acknowledgeth them and acknowledging them he censures them and himself for them and that most severely confessing and professing himself to be not only one of that number a sinner but one of the chief of them a great sinner nay the greatest the chief of sinners And the like disposition shall we find in every truly gracious Soul every true penitent sinner Haveing tasted of the Grace of God in the pardon of his sins and in changing and renewing of him he is ever after a frequent Remembrancer an ingenuous Confessor a severe Censurer of his own Sins An Observation which as you see is Tripartite made up of three distinct Branches every of which will yield us some fruit worth the gathering That I may not grasp too much at once I shall single them forth one by one insisting upon each severally and that both by way of Doctrine and Application Begin with the first A gracious Soul is a frequent Remembrancer to its self frequent in reflecting upon it's own sinful wayes and courses It is the speech of the Church Isa. 59. 12. Our Transgressions are with us and as for our iniquities we know them And the like may be said of every truly penitent sinner his Transgressions are with him and as for his Iniquities he knows them Taking special notice of them he is frequent in remembring of them So was it with the man after God's own heart holy David whom we shall find frequently striking upon this string His sins were ever and anon in his eye so as he took notice both of the number and nature the multitude and magnitude of them Thence are those passionate complaints of his which we meet with that his Iniquities were gon over his head Psal. 38. 4. That they were more than the hairs of his head Psal. 40. 12. Thus did he keep a remembrance of them even of such sins as were long before committed So he did of the sins of his youth which we find him deprecating earnestly begging of God that he would not remember them Remember not the sins of my youth Psal. 25. 7. thereby shewing that he himself had not forgotten them he remembered them So he did some sins in special as viz. that foul sin of his in the matter of Uriah that sin was never out of his sight My sin saith he speaking of that sin is ever before me Psal. 51. 3. It was ever in his eye and thought I but it may be said David at this time was in great trouble of mind for that sin And no wonder then that he should remember that which
he could not forget that sin of his lying so heavy upon his Conscience And as for his condition at that time when he complained so of his sinnes that they were gon over his head he was then under a great distress under some soar Affliction the Arrows of the Almighty stuck fast in him and his Hand pressed him soar as he complains Psal. 38. 2. And so was it with the Church in the place forecited she was at that time in great calamity and distress lying under the Judgments of God for her sins as she there sets it forth in the verses foregoing Isa. 59. 9 10 11. Now no wonder that their sins should be brought to their remembrance at such a time Iosephs brethren having been for three dayes in ward then they remembered the evill that they had done to their brother Gen. 42. 21. And no wonder if the Church lying under so great Calamity and David in so great distress such affliction of Body and Spirit should remember and call to mind their sins What great matter is this Who would not do it at such a time In their Affliction they will seek me early saith the Lord of Rebellious Ephraim and Iudah the people of Israel Hos. 5. verse last To go further then God's Saints have been frequent in remembring their sins not only whilest God hath set them before them and made them to possess them as Iob speaketh of himself Iob 13. 26. Thou writest bitter things against me and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth that is Thou bringest them to my remembrance by dealing so severely with me Not only at such times when their iniquities have took hold of them so as they have not been able to look up under them as David there saith of himself Psal. 40. 12. But when all things have gone well with them after such time as they have sued out the pardon of their sins have been assured of their Reconciliation with God and so have injoyed a quiet and comfortable condition in all respects Yet even then they have been much in reflecting upon their sins in calling them to mind upon all occasions For an instance hereof we shall need no other then this our Apostle Paul upon his Conversion he had all his sins pardoned and that Pardon sealed up in his Soul so as he was fully assured that all the wrong that he had done unto Christ and to his Church it was now forgotten in Heaven and should never be charged upon him His Cognizance hereof he expresseth in the verse next but one before the Text Vers. 13. I was so and so saith he but I obteined mercy which he repeats again in the Verse after the Text Vers. 16. that is to have these and all other my sins pardoned and forgiven to me This was Paul now assured of that God had blotted out all these sins of his out of the Book of his Remembrance so as they should never be charged upon him Yet for all this he himself cannot forget them Upon all occasions he reflects upon them and takes occasion to speak of them So we may see it in those obvious Texts Act. 22. 4. chap. 26. 10. 11. 1 Cor. 15. 9. Gal. 1. 13. Ephes. 3. 8. and so here again in this Chapter as in the 13. verse so again in this Text where the mentioning of sinners causeth him to reflect upon himself to remember and consider what a one he was before his Conversion And thus fareth it with truly penitent sinners how ever God upon their Repentance blots their sins out of his own Book and casts them behind His back remembring them no more as he promiseth Isa. 43. 25. yet doth he not blot them out of their book the book of their Remembrance nor cause them to cast them behind their backs Still They remember them and cannot forget them True you may say where the sins have been foul gross and scandalous sins heynous and horrid sins no wonder now if they stick by a man and be often brought to his remembrance Such were Davids sins in the matter of Uriah Adultery and Murder And such were Pauls sins in blaspheming of Christ and persecuting his Saints crying-Sins No wonder if such sins as these did stick by them were ever before them But this is not the case of all Some and many there are who do not stand guilty of any such sins their lives have been more innocent and blameless they have been kept from such foul gross evils What are they also to have such a frequent remembrance of their sins Surely Yes There being in the Ist. place few or none but at some time or other have fallen into some such fins as they have cause in a special manner to remember all their dayes However 2dly they have a body of sin in them which they carry about with them a mass of corruption strongly enclining them to evil which is continually ready to break forth if it were not by a supernatural power restrained Besides 3dly they have many secret inordinate lusts which though they do not break forth into the outward act yet oft times they have inward workings in the Soul Now these require a frequent reflecting upon to be often had in remembrance So they have been by the Saints of God Iohn the Baptist was an holy man sanctified in his Infancy as the Angel tells his Father Zacharias of him Luk. 1. 15. He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mothers womb Sanctified as Ieremie is said to have been Ier. 1. 5. before he came forth of the womb A Saint from his birth And such questionless he was in his life holy and blamless free from grosser evils yet was not he unmindful of the corruption of his nature and the errors of his life So much may be collected from that speech of his to our Saviour who tendring himself to his Baptism Iohn tells him I have need to be baptised of thee Mat. 3. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ego necesse habeo as Beza translates it it is not only expedient but necessary for me that I should be baptised of thee And why so why that by Him he might be washen from all fins Original and Actual which he had then in remembrance But I shall not need to seek for any other instance than this in the Text. This blessed Apostle he was much exercised and taken up not onely with the Remembrance of these grosser Sins committed before his Conversion but even with the Sight and Sense of his present Corruption and daily Failings So much we may learn from his own mouth as elsewhere so especially in that Seventh of the Romans where not personating any other but speaking of himself we find him passionately bewailing and bemoaning his condition not in regard of the Evils of his former course but of his daily Infirmities his sinful Omissions and Commissions ver 15. What I would that I
to her now she remembreth her Sin which she apprehended might have brought that threatned Judgement upon her and hers Art thou come unto me saith she to call my Sin to Remembrance But no sooner is the storm over but they cast their sins behind their backs again remembring them no more in times of Prosperity never so much as thinking of them In this like some bad Debtors who never think of what they Owe but when they are under Arrest or at least see the Sergeant To these yet adde another sort worse than all the former They it may be do look back and call their former sins to their remembrance but how not remembring them as they ought to do not looking upon them as Sins to repent of them and to be humbled for them to shame and condemn themselves for them but only it may be as tricks of youth as they call them and so making light of them Nay it may be remembring of them to Boast of them to Glory in them as those Idolaters are said to do of their Idols Psal. 97. 7. or pleasing and tickling themselves as it were with the thought and remembrance of those sins which now they want opportunity or ability to act over again Of all the rest these are the worst Now to speak a word or two to all of these in special to those secure sinners such as go on in a course of Sin never reflecting upon themselves and such as are so far from this frequent Remembrance that they as I said study the Art of forgetfulness accounting it their happiness to forget their Sins and consequently cannot endure to be put in minde of them Let all such but seriously consider these two things which will serve to convince them of the folly and madness of this their Course 1. That all their sins are Registred and put upon Record So they are and that both in Heaven and upon Earth In Heaven in Gods Book the book of his Remembrance Upon Earth in their own Book the book of Conscience In both these Books are their sinnes entred and recorded And that so as whilest they hold on this course they cannot be Blotted out they cannot be Forgotten 1. In Gods Book As David saith of the members of his Natural body In thy Book are all my members written Psal. 139. 16. so may a Wicked man say of his sins The members of that body of Sin in him they are all written in Gods Book the book of his Remembrance There are the Names of all Gods Saints entered as the Prophet Malachy tell us Mal. 3. 16. A book of Remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his Name And there are the Names of all wicked ungodly men entred And as their Names so their Sinnes Every particular Act with every particular Circumstance being all come up into Remembrance before God So the Angel tells Cornelius concerning his Good works his works of Piety and Charity his Prayers and Almes Thy Prayers and thine Almes saith he are come up for a memorial before God Acts 10. 4. And so may it be said of the Wicked works of every wicked and ungodly man his Swearing his Drunkenness his Uncleanness c. they are all come in Remembrance before God all Entred into his Book and that so as they cannot by any means be blotted out save onely by the Blood of Christ and the Tears of true Repentance nor yet worn out This being a Record for Eternitie God's Remembrance is an everlasting Remembrance In this remembrance are the Righteous The Righteous shall be had in everlasting Remembrance Psal. 112. 6. Men may forget them but so will not God And in such a remembrance shall all wicked men and their wicked works be they shall be had in everlasting remembrance So they shall be with God however they themselves may forget their own sins and the world may forget them yet God whilest his Justice is not satisfied He will not He cannot What a folly then is it in them to go about to forget them so long as God remembers them Were it so that they could blot them out of their own Book the book of their Conscience yet as long as they stand upon Record in God's Book what will this avail them What will it advantage a Debtor to cross his own book so long as his Debts stand charged in his Creditor's 2. But in the 2d place the sins of wicked men as they are entered in God's Book so in theirs As in the book of his Remembrance so in the book of their Conscience In this book I say they are entered I and so entered as that they cannot blot them out Blur them they may but blot them out they cannot Conscience is a Record for Eternitie What is written there is written with indelible Characters such as none but God alone can blot out Thence it is that David maketh his prayer to God that he would blot out his Transgressions Psal. 51. 1. This David himself could not do as not out of God's Book so not out of his own not out of the book of his Conscience No do what he could still his sin was before him as he complaines vers 3. All that men can do in this case is but to keep this book shut which for a time haply they may but to blot out what is written in it this they cannot do They may do this for a time out of their memorie but not out of their Conscience What is written in the Memorie is written oft-times in Water but what is written in Conscience is written in Marble Thus are the sins of wicked men entered and Recorded in these two Books whereof the one is a true Counterpane of the other And being thus entered here these Books in the 2d place shall one day be opened However for a time they may be shut and closed up so as men do not take notice of what is written in them yet they shall not ever be so A time will come when they shall be both opened 1. God's Book shall be opened However for a time he may keep silence seeming to connive at wicked and ungodly men as if he took no notice of their sins or had forgotten them yet sooner or later he will open his Book and make them to read what is written there setting their sins in order before them This the Lord willeth every presumptuous sinner to take notice of Psal. 50. 21. These things hast thou done saith he and I kept silence thou thoughtest I was altogether such a one as thy self but I will reproove thee and set them in order before thine eyes Psal. 50. 21. This will God do sooner or later He will open his Book and opening it he will also open the eyes of all wicked and ungodly men so as they shall not but read what is there written They shall not then be able any longer to
avoid the looking and thinking of their sins no more than King Balshazzer could the beholding of the hand writing upon the wall Dan. 5. 5. 2. I and their own Book shall be opened the book of Conscience That may be shut and sealed up for a time but it shall be opened sooner or later Conscience though a sleep for a time it shall be awakened And then it shall do it's office bringing the most secret sins of wicked men to their remembrance setting their sins before them so as either to drive them to God by Repentance as it did David or to the Divel by Desperation as it did Cain and Iudas What a bootless thing is it then for men to study the Art of forgetfulness to decline the remembrance of their own sins when as they are so entred into both these Books which shall one day be thus Opened Q. But when when saith the prophane Wretch when shall this be A. Why either sooner or later soon enough and too soon to the cost of all secure sinners 1. It may be in this life Haply in time of Health and Prosperity in the mid'st of their greatest jollity when they least think of it So was it with Belshazzar when he was carrowzing in the mid'st of his cups and least dreamed of any such matter then did the hand-Writing appear to him And thus God can come unto men and sometimes doth in the midst of their outward prosperitie then awakening their Consciences then representing their sins unto them 2. But if not then yet in time of Affliction in time of Sickness at the hour of Death when the Judgments of God have seized upon them and Death his Sergeant hath laid hold upon them they being then under Arrest ready to be carried to the Prison of Hell to be brought before the Tribunal of Jesus Christ there to give an accompt of what they have done in the flesh then doth God often open the Book of Conscience and make men to see those Sins which before they had shut their eyes against setting them before them in the most hideous shapes calling to remembrance all those sins which they so long time had studied to forget 3. But if not so if the Book of Conscience be not opened in this life but men carry it closed and sealed out of the world with them as oft-times it falleth out yet both that and the other Book God's Book shall certainly be opened hereafter viz. at the Day of Iudgment At the day of Particular more fully at the day of the General Iudgment Then shall these Books be opened This St. Iohn tells us he saw in a Vision Rev. 20. 12. I saw saith he the dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened And what books were these why even both these Books which I have spoken of God's Book and Man's Book the Book of God's Remembrance and man's Conscience Both shall be opened at that great Day And then shall all the sins that wicked and ungodly men have done be brought to their remembrance Those sins which here they cast behind their backs shall then be set before their faces Those sins which here they study to forget they shall then remember them Those sins which here they turned away their eyes from they shall then behold them yea and that with open face That which the Apostle saith of true Believers and of that clear Vision which they shall one day have of Divine and Heavenly Mysteries viz. at the last and great day 1 Cor. 13. 12. Now we see through a glass darkly but then face to face with open face beholding things as they are it may be said of all wicked and ungodly men and of their sins Now they behold them through a glass and that a false glass and they see them darkly Conniventibus oculis winking at them not willing to behold them in their true colours as they are to have a true sight and sense of them But they shall at that day that day of Wrath and Revelation of the Righteous Iudgment of God as the Apostle calleth it Rom. 2. 5. thus behold them with open face having a full sight of them Then shall all their sins be set before them and so set before them as that they shall for ever stare in their faces being unto them a matter of horrour and terrour to all Eternitie O consider this all you who are now so loath to look upon your sins to look upon them as truly penitent sinners do but account it your happiness to forget them Be you convinced of the greatness of your folly herein and withall of the wretchedness of your state and condition being hereby sufficiently discovered This by way of Conviction In the 2d place by way of Exhortation let all be excited herein to propound this our Apostle as a Pattern for their Imitation remembring their own sins as he did hiâ—… Which that it may take place the better let it be directed to two sorts of persons Such as never yet knew what it was to remember their sins aright and such as have remembred them and repented of them Begin with the former 1. Secure and impenitent sinners such whose Consciences were never yet throughly awakened let them be excited to reflect upon themselves upon their former sinful wayes and courses to call their sins to remembrance Which I beseech you lend an ear unto all you who are of this number of which I fear there are too many every where To excite you whereunto do but consider that this is the next nay the only way to have your sins forgotten For you to remember them is the only way to have God to forget them If you forget them he doth and will remember them If you remember them he will forget them Only see that you remember them in a right way seriously with sorrow and shame This is the right remembrance of sin when men remember their sinful wayes and are ashamed of them This is that which the Lord saith his people the people of the Jews should do Ezek. 16. 6. when he should make good his Covenant to them and establish it with them viz. upon their Conversion Then saith he thou shalt remember thy ways and be ashamed Vers. 61. Remember and be confounded as tâ—…e last verse there hath it Thus doth the trâ—…y penitent sinner remember his sins he remembers them and is ashamed of them self-confounded for them loathing and abhorring them and himself for them So the Lord saith that his people Israel should do when he should bring them again into their own Land restoring them from their Captivity Then saith he ye shall remember your wayes and all your doings wherein ye have been defiled and ye shall loath your selves in your own sight for all the evils which ye have committed cap. 20. of that Prophecie vers 43. Repeated again cap. 36. vers 31. And thus see that
so as to remember them no more Our Apostle St. Paul he had repented of his sins committed before his Conversion his Infidelity Obstinacy Blasphemy his opposing of Christ and Persecuting of his Saints Being hereof convinced in an extraordinary way by a Voice from Heaven Christ himself calling unto him Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Act. 9. 4. he had seriously repented of them And he had sued out his pardon for them having it under Seal being assured that he had obtained Mercy as here he declares it once and again in the verse next but one before and the verse after the Text Yet notwithstanding this upon all occasions as you have heard he is ready to reflect upon those sins and to call to minde his forepast condition Let it not then content any of us that we have remembred our sins that we have been humbled for them and that by believing on Christ we have obteined the pardon of them but still take all occasions to reflect and look back upon them to call them to minde again Specially our special sins which have been of greater magnitude then other So the Lord tells his people Israel they should do when he was pacified towards them for all the evil that they had done then they should remember it Ezek. 16. vers last Why but it may be said To what purpose is this or What benefit shall a Christian reap in so doing Here are two Queries to which I shall return Answers severally In which Answers we shall fall in with divers Arguments and Motives which will be of use to press and set on the Exhortation For the former Wherefore should a Christian do this Having once repented of his sins and sued out the pardon of them Why should he disquiet himself in calling them to mind again in rubbing over an old soar I Answer this a Christian is to do upon diverse accounts for diverse Ends and Redsons Instance in 4. of them 1. For the making sure of his Repentance that he may know it to be sound and true All Repentance is not true Repentance It is with sins as with wounds Wounds may be skinned over and yet not healed Sins may be sorrowed for yea and absteined from yet not truly repented of To this end therefore a Christian should be frequent in reflecting upon them to see whether he hath truly repented of them or no. Even as a man by rubbing and chafing of the soar he trieth whether it be healed or no even so by this means a Christian may come to judg of his Repentance whether it was sound or no by calling his sins to his remembrance rubbing and pressing them as it were by a frequent reflecting upon them which doing willingly it may be to him an evidence that it is so A wound that is only skinned over will not endure the handling the touching of it puts the patient to pain Where men cannot endure to have their sins touched by themselves or others to be put in minde of them it is an evidence those sins are not healed never truly repented of Sins healed will endure the touching Upon this accompt Christians ought to be frequent in reflecting upon their sins for the assuring of the truth of their repentance 2. And as for the assuring so 2dly for the renewing and increasing of it It is a mistake if any shall think Repentance to be onely one particular act the work of an hour or a day or the like as Papists look upon their Penance No it is an habitual work the work of a Christians life-time and so to be frequently renewed A work which a Christian can never do too much or yet enough Certainly he that thinks he hath repented enough never yet repented aright In this sense the Repentance of a Christian may be called Repentance to be repented of because not so perfect as it ought to be Those who are the greatest proficients and have made the greatest progress in this work yet they fail in this as in all other duties falling short of repenting as they ought to do And therefore ought to take all occasions for the renewing of their repentance and to that end they are frequently to call to mind their former sins that they may mourn over them afresh renewing their former sorrow for them Which however it may have some bitterness in it for the present yet it will make way for great joy and comfort to the Soul So it is the joy of a Christian ariseth out of sorrow sorrow for sin and ordinarily it is proportioned to it As it was with Eliahs Sacrifice 1 King 18. 33. 38. after he had caused water in great abundance three several times to be poured about the Altar then came forth the Fire Thus after a Christians sorrow for sin his joy ariseth And as the one is increased so oft-times is the other The Harvest answereth the Seed time They that sow in tears shall reap in joy Psal. 126. 5. Never a truly penitential tear that the remembrance of sin draweth from the eye but ordinarily God answers and recompenceth it with a suitable proportion of joy and comfort to the Soul In the 3d. place Christians are to be frequent in remembring of their sins that they may get assurance of the pardon of them that they may get their pardon Sealed up unto their Souls A pardon is not ever as soon sealed as granted A Christian may have his sins pardoned in Heaven yet not so in his own Conscience wanting the assurance thereof And upon this accompt he ought to have his sins frequentlie in his eie Upon this accompt among other he is daily to pray for the forgiveness of them as our Saviour directeth us to do in that form of prayer which he hath given us where this is one of the six Petitions Forgive us our Trespasses meaning not onely our daily sins as we pray for our daily bread but all the sins of our lives past that so we may still gain a further and clearer evidence and assurance of the pardon of them This use David made of his sins being ever before him it put him upon the earnest seeking of the assurance of his pardon that that cloud being dispelled the light of God's countenance might come to shine upon his Soul which he earnestly sueth for in that Penitential Psalm of his Psal. 51. Make me to hear the voice of joy and gladness vers 8. Restore unto me the joy of thy Salvation vers 12. Thus are Christians to reflect upon their sins that they may get the pardon of them Sealed 4thly and lastly Remember them that they may get them thorowly healed that they may be freed and delivered as from the guilt so from the power of them A disease may be cured and yet there may be some relicks of it in the bodie which if not looked to may incline it to a Relapse Thus a sin may be repented of and pardoned and yet there
may be some remainders of it in the Soul which if not looked unto may break forth again And upon this accompt a Christian is to remember it that he may get strength against it Such use also David made of his sins being ever before him it putteth him upon seeking unto God that he would throwly wash him from his iniquity and cleanse him from his sin Psal. 51. 2. freeing him both from the guilt and power of it And that he would create in him a clean heart renewing a right spirit within him vers 10. And that he would establish him with his free Spirit vers 12. Thus are Christians to have a frequent eie upon their sins as Patients have upon their soars to see that they may not break forth again To these ends and purposes among others are Christians to be frequent in this exercise Which whilst they are it will be very beneficial to them and that diverse ways That is the second thing which I propounded to shew you What profit what benefit a Christian shall reap from this practise Much every way Were there no other than what I have made mention of already the attaining of that Four-fold end The knowing of the truth of their Repentance The renewing and increasing of it The getting of assurance of the pardon of their Sins And strength against them These were enough to answer and recompense all the Points that a Christian shall take in this way But besides these take we notice of Four more Four considerable benefits accruing from this practice It will be of great use unto a Christian to make him 1. Humble 2. Thankful 3. Watchful 4. Pitiful Humble in Himself Thankful to his God Watchful over his Sin and Pitiful towards Others All benefits of singular Excellency and Worth Touch upon them briefly Frequent remembrance of a mans own Sins will be of speciall Use to make and keep him Humble So it is that there is in the Heart of every man naturally an accursed root of Pride which is very apt to spring and sprout forth being watered as it were with all the common Favours and Blessings that God poureth out upon him of what kind soever they be Good things of Fortune as they were called of Nature of Grace I mean common Grace Birth Beauty Riches Honours gifts and endowments of the Mind any of these not being Sanctified are apt to puff up the Soul to breed a Tympany in it Now the frequent remembrance of Sins will be of special use to prevent it to make the Soul humble and keep it humble Such Use the Church tells us she had of it as Montanus and the Vulgar Latine render the word in that Text Lam. 3. 19 20. Remembring my Affliction and my misery saith our Translation my Affliction and my Rebellion my Transgression say they which sense the word in the Original will well bear as we find it rendred 1 Sam. 20. 30. the Wormwood and the Gall that is the bitterness of both my Soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled in me Incurvatur it is bowed down The soul of man naturally is Proud apt to be inordinately lift up in him Now the Remembrance as of former Afflictions which he hath lain under so of former Sins which he hath fallen into will be of special use to humble it to make it keep so This effect it had in and upon this our Apostle as you have heard The remembrance of his former Sins made him Vile in his own eyes This it was that made him think and speak so meanly of himself to account himself the least of the Apostles unworthy to be one of that number the least of Saints nay less than the least of them as the Text hath it Ephes. 3. 8. Because saith he I persecuted the Church of God 1 Cor. 15. 9. Thus it was As the Buffetings of Satan of which he speaketh 2 Cor. 12. 7. those temptations wherewith he was exercised after his Conversion so the remembrance of his former Sins committed before his Conversion was to him of great use to keep him from being exalted above measure a thing which by reason of the many and great priviledges now conferred upon him he was subject to and in danger of Thus God sometimes suffers his Chosen Vessels those whom he purposeth to make some special use of and to confer some signal Favours upon to fall into some great Sin or sins haply in their Youth it may be Afterwards that so the Remembrance of them may be a means to keep their Spirits in a humble frame and temper from being inordinately lift up in them being to them as the Peacocks black Leggs are vulgarly conceived to be unto him which looking down upon he presently letteth fall his proud Plumes Here is the first of those Benefits which a Christian may reap from this reflecting upon his Sins A benefit of singular Use there being nothing more dangerous to the Soul than this spiritual Tympany 2dly As it will be of great Use to make men Humble so Thankful As Humble in themselves so Thankful to their God A fruit naturally growing upon this Branch Remembrance of former sins Repented of and Pardoned it calleth to mind two things Gods Goodness our own Unworthiness Gods goodness in sparing of us not taking us as the Scribes and Pharisees tell our Saviour that woman was whom they brought before him Iohn 8. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the very Act of sinne and so bringing us to answer as they did her before His Tribunal for those Sins which we wanted Grace and space to Repent of Nor yet onely sparing us giving us a time to Repent but also working that Repentance in us and upon our Repenting Pardoning them and instead of punishing us according to our deservings conferring many special Graces and Favours upon us of all which of the least of which we were altogether unworthy Both these the remembrance of former sins calleth to mind And so doing it cannot but be a special means to raise up the Heart to a Thankful apprehension and acknowledgment thereof Of such Use was it to this blessed Apostle as we may take notice from the 12. 13. verses in this Chapter where calling to mind his former sins he presently breaketh forth into blessing and magnifying of Iesus Christ for his rich Grace and Mercy towards him I thank Christ Iesus our Lord who hath enabled me for that he counted me faithful putting me into the Ministry who was before a Blasphemer a Persecutor Injurious but I obteined mercy So again vers 17. Having here confessed himself to be the chief of sinners and after declared what God had done for him how he had made him a Patern to all that should hereafter believe on him he thereupon in the next words breaketh forth into that affectionate Gratulation Now unto the King Eternal Immortal Invisible the only wise God be Honour and Glory for ever and ever
Amen Thus the reflecting upon our sins after that we have obteined Mercy it will be a means as to cause us to take shame to our selves so to give glory to God the Glory of his Grace and Mercy in sparing us in pardoning us and conferring so many undeserved favours upon us It will be of special use to make us thankful And 3dly as thankful so watchful watchful over those and the like sins The remembrance of dangers formerly escaped will make men the more warie they will take heed how they come nigh that fire in which they have before been burnt or scorched or that precipice from which once they fell or passing that way wherein they have fallen among Thieves Thus Christians having their sins in remembrance and mainteining in their Souls a sight and sense of them it will be of special use to them to make them more cautelous wary to take heed of all the occasions of them of coming near unto them As for the Soul that hath banished the sense and remembrance of it's sins it careth not what sins it rusheth upon and runs into Paul speaking of the Gentiles he saith of them that being past feeling 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 postquam dedoluerunt as Beza renders it â—…aving cast away all sense of and sorrow for sin they then gave themselves over unto lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness Ephes. 4. 19. The best way then to be kept from sin is to maintein the sense of it in the Soul To which end the frequent reflecting upon sins past will conduce much By this means it was that David kept himself from his iniquitie as he saith he did Psal. 18. 23. from the sin which he was most inclined to by having it frequently in his remembrance Fourthly and lastly The frequent reflecting upon our own sins will be a special means to make us more pittiful and charitable towards others Not to be so ready to espie their faults nor so harsh and rigid in censuring them for their failings and infirmities What is the cause why Hypocrites are so quick-sighted in espying and so forward in judging and censuring of others Surely it is the want of reflecting upon themselves They see the moâ—…e that is in their brothers eye but consider not the beam that is in their own eye as our Saviour saith of them Mat. 7. 3. Surely were men more busied at home more taken up with remembring and considering their own failings their own sins what they have been what they have done they would be more pittiful more tender-hearted towards others It is the Apostle's Argument which he putteth into Titus his mouth willing him to make use of it in disswading Christians from being too censorious towards their Brethren or any other whosoever but to induce them to deal tenderly and gently with them Tit. 3. 2 3. Put them in mind saith he to speak evil of no man that is wrongfully or causlesly whether by aspersing of them or detracting from them to be no brawlers but gentle shewing all meekness unto all men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all men non tantum adversus fidei consortes sed etiam adversus contradictores as Grotius well explains it not only such as profess the same faith with themselves but such as are adversaries to it Even these he would have private Christians for of such he there speaketh not of Titus himself and the Ministers of Christ who yet as our new Annotator hath it are to do nothing in rage or passion but with a spirit of meekness shewing all meekâ—…ess unto all men Gentiles as well as Jews Enemies as well as Friends but of private Christians the word in the Original being of the plural number 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to deal gently with not being too rigid in censuring them much less in wholly despairing of them But shew meekness all meekness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 omnem i. e. summam lenitatem Great meekness and gentleness towards them And why so For saith he we our selues were sometimes foolish disobedient deceived serving divers lusts c. vers 3. Certainly the more a man reflects upon himself and the better acquainted he is with his own heart and life the more pittiful and tender-hearted the more compassionate he will be towards others To proceed no further These benefits may a Christian reap from the reflecting upon himself the frequent remembrance of his own sins Which let it induce every of us to exercise our selves herein Which yet let it be warily and rightly understood Not that I would have Christians to stand continually poring upon their sins so fixing their thoughts upon them that their hearts and spirits should be inordinately dejected and cast down in the remembrance of them This God requires not neither ought Christians to give way to it David was a man much in the remembrance of his sins yet he would not give way to such soul-dejections and disquietments for which we find him checking himself in those two Psalms 42. and 43. where we have the same Expostulation thrice repeated Why art thou cast down O my Soul Why art thou disquieted within me c Christians should not so look upon their sins as that they should give way to such dejections of Spirit as may render their condition uncomfortable to themselves and unserviceable to others In this case that of the Preacher takes place Eccles. 7. 17. Be not over-much wicked that is judicio tuo as Iunius expounds it in thine own apprehension and judgment In such a sense it is that in the verse there foregoing he biddeth us not to be over-righteous or over-wise Be not Righteous over-much neither make thy self over-wise that is do not think thy self so to be So here in this verse which is subjoyned as an Antitheton set in opposition to the former Be not over-much wicked viz. in thy own apprehension And let me applie it unto you I mean all and only such as are trulie penitent sinners Be not you in this sense wicked over-much stand not poreing too much upon your sins sorrowing over them as the Apostle saith the Heathen did over their dead 1 Thes. 4. 13. as haveing no hope Onely upon occasions call them to remembrance making use hereof to those ends and purposes which I have now spoken of And as we are to do this at other times so then more especially when God calleth us to the humbling of our Souls before him and to seek his Face for the removing or diverting of some judgment felt or feared Now at such a time to call to mind our sins is an excercise most fit and proper being now Opus diei in die suo a work done in season And this do we all of us now this day being a day of Solemn Humiliation so appointed to be by publick Authority wherein the whole Nation is required to seek God in a Solemn manner for the diverting and preventing as of such other Judgments
which we may justly fear to hang over the head of the Nation so in special of that which is already in part broke forth upon us whereof the poor as elsewhere so in this place not a few of them are very sensible whose necessitous condition I shall commend to your charitable consideration desiring you to extend your free and liberal contributions to their relief which is also a work of the day and doth further sadly threaten us viz. The Iudgment of Famine which by reason of the unseasonableness of the Season may justly be feared This is the work of the day For the furthering whereof let all of us now call to mind our own sins I do remember my faults this day saith Pharoahs Butler unto him Gen. 41. 9. And the like let every of us do Sure we are this is the provokking Cause as of other Judgements so of this He turneth a Fruitful Land into Barrenness for the Wickedness of them that dwell therein Psal. 107. 34. Call we our selves then every one of us to account for our sinnes this day humbling our selves in the sight and presence of God for them that so we remembring them God may be pleased graciously to forget them and forgive them so as not to charge them upon the Head of the Nation In doing hereof we shall much promote the service of the Day and much help forward the great business both of Church and State which is now in the hands of the Great Council of the Land Certainly the great Stumbling-blocks that lie in the way of Mercy they are the Sinnes of the Nation O Let every of us put to our hands this Day to the removing of them by taking out of the way as much as we can the sinnes of others Humbling our selves for them and seeking the Pardon of them however our own sinnes by calling them to mind Humbling Shaming and Condemning our selves for them withal putting them away in the full purpose and resolution of our Souls never more to give entertainment to them Thus wash we and make we our selves clean putting away the evil of our doings from before the eyes of our God as he requires his People to do Isai. 1. 16. And then do we what in the next words he allowes them to do Come let us Reason together c. begging from him Mercy for our selves and the Nation being hopefully and comfortably assured that the Lord will smell a Sweet savour of rest from this our Sacrifice and that both Church and State shall find it the best service we could perform unto them which the Lord enable every of us to do Thus I have done with the first of these three Branches I pass now to the second THe truly Penitent Sinner as he is frequent in Remembring so forward in acknowledging of his own sins So was Paul Having here occasion to make mention of Sinners he calleth to remembrance his own sinnes and Remembring them he Acknowledgeth them confessing himself to be a Sinner a great sinner yea the chief of Sinners Of whom I am chief The like disposition and practice we find in the Man after Gods own Heart holy David As his sinnes were often in his eye so he was ready to acknowledge them I acknowledged my Transgression and my Sinne was ever before me saith he Psal. 51. 3. Such a frequent Remembrancer and ingenuous Confessor of his Sinnes was he And such are all truly Penitent sinners And it cannot be otherwise Their hearts in the first place being full as it were with the sight and sense of Sinne they must have vent The Story tells us of Ioseph Gen. 45. ver 1 2. how that his heart being full as it was with the remembrance of what his Brethren had done to him and his Affections towards them he could not contein he could not refrain himself before all that stood by him but he shed Tears abundantly yea the company being gone he wept aloud He could not but give vent to that affection wherewith his heart was full And David tells us the like of himself Psal. 39. 3. My heart saith he was hot within me while I was musing the fire burned then spake I with my tongue So it is with Affections as it is with Fire the heart being full of them they will not be smothered they will not be kept close they will seek vent and be ready to break forth as occasion is offered And so will these Holy Affections in the heart of a truly Penitent sinner his Sorrow for sinne his Hatred and Indignation against sinne his heart being full of them it will be seeking vent ready to break forth in a humble and hearty Confession and Acknowledgement of it Again in such a Soul the Bed of sinne as I may say is broken Now as it is in the Body if the bed of Worms be broken they are ready to come away and such tough and viscous humours as are coagulated in the Stomack being dissected they are easily evacuated Even so in the Soul If the Bed of peccant Humours of sinful Lusts be there once broken the Works of Satan dissolved as Saint Iohn saith that Christ was manifest to this end 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ut dissolvat That he might dissolve or destroy the works of the Devil that is our Sinnes which are destroyed by dissolving of them as many things are 1 Iohn 3. 8. as in measure they are in every truly Regenerate person in whom the Power of Sinne is broken they will now be ready to break forth and come away as I may say by way of Confession and Acknowledgement Thus you see that it is so and how it cometh so to be For further Explication and Illustration propound we these two useful Enquiries touching this Acknowledgement which Penitent sinners are so forward in 1. To whom they are so ready to make this Acknowledgement 2. What kind of Acknowledgement it is that they make For the First To whom they are so ready to make this Acknowledgement A. For Answer Know we that the acknowledgment of Sin is either unto God or Man The former to God either publickly or privately the latter to Man either secretly or openly Secretly either to the Ministers of God or to other private Christians Openly which is either Regular injoyned by the Church or Occasional and Arbitrary All these wayes Sinne is confessed and acknowledged And all these wayes a sinner truly Penitent will be ready to acknowledge his sinnes 1. In the first place unto God The Prodigall sonne in the Gospel upon his return to his Father at his first meeting with him after that his father had expressed his fatherly Affection unto him presently he breaks forth into a humble acknowledgement of his sinnes unto him Father I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight Luke 15. 21. This is the first thing that a poor sinner doth when once he is brought home unto God and hath in any measure tasted of
Conversion and after it 1. Upon their Conversion Thus we read of the hearers of Iohn the Baptist how they were baptised of him confessing their sinnes Mat. 3. 6. Being convinced of their sinnes by his Ministery and his Preaching unto them they could not contain but they came unto Iohn not onely confessing their sins unto him in a private and clancular way as Maldonate and other Romish Expositors would have it making this a ground for their auricular Confession but publickly and openly before the people which the word in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imports as Beza and Pareus observe And the like we read of those Converts at Ephesus Act. 19. 18. Being wrought upon by the Miracle which they had seen Many of them came saith the Text and confessed and shewed their deeds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 confessing them not secretly but openly Among whom some and many of those who have used curious that is Magical Arts making Divinations by Judicial Astrology They brought forth their Books and burnt them before all men in the presence of all the people as the next verse there hath it vers 19. So powerful is the work of Gods Grace in the hearts of true Converts it will make them willing and ready to acknowledg their sins 2. And this they will be ready to do not only at their first Conversion but ever after Sins committed before Conversion or after they will be forward in confessing and acknowledging of them This we may see in David Solomon Paul Take we these three Instances All of them being persons of Eminencie two of them Kings the other an Apostle yet see how forward they were all of them at this work David a King and so subject to no Superior Power that could injoyn such an acknowledgment of sin unto him yet see how he taketh it upon himself making a voluntarie confession and acknowledgment of his sinne That great sinne of his in the matter of Uriah whereby he had given so great scandal to the Church he maketh a free and open Confession of it before the Church To that purpose compiling and penning that Penitential Psalm Psal. 51. Which he committed and delivered to the Chief Musitian as the Title of the Psalm informs us that by him it might be published in the Temple and there ever after kept and so be not only a Testimony of his Repentance to the Church in that present age to which he desired to give Satisfaction but a Monument of it in all succeeding Ages to the end of the world And what David the Father did the like did Solomon his Son after him Having fallen foully and scandalously to the great Offence of the Church over which God had made him Supream Governour he afterwards penneth and publisheth to the world that Penitential Retractation his Book of Ecclesiastes wherein he freely and ingenuously confesseth before all the world the vanity and sinfulness of his former ways and courses Thus did these two Kings doing that voluntarily which no power upon Earth could have compelled them to And the same did this our Apostle Saint Paul Having been before his Conversion an open and bitter Enemie to the Truth speaking evil of the Doctrine of the Gospel and doing all the mischief that he could to all that professed it being Converted and brought home to Christ he was ever hereafter an Ingenuous Confessour Having his former sins ever in his eye he had them also as I may say at his tongues end ready to confess and acknowledg them upon all occasions This we find him doing at Ierusalem before the Chief Captain in a great and promiscuous Assembly of all sorts of persons I persecuted this way unto the death saith he binding and delivering into prison both men and women Act. 22. 4. c. And the like he did again at Cesarea in a very Solemn Audience before Festus and Agrippa and Queen Bernice the Chief Captains and principal Men of the City Act. 26. 10. I did many things saith he against the Name of Iesus of Nazareth many of the Saints did I shut up in Prison and when they were put to death I gave my voice against them and punished them often in every Synagogue and compelled them to Blaspheme and being exceedingly mad against them I persecuted them even unto strange Cities such Cities as were not within the Territories of Iudea as Damascus c. and so therein going beyond his Commission Thus did he confess his sins by word of mouth And the like he did by Writing acknowledging them under his hand making a publick Record of them that all the Churches of God might take notice of them This he doth in his Epistle to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 15. 9. and to his Galatians Gal. 1. 13. And so here in this Epistle to Timothy in this chapter where we find him not onely making a general Confession which he doth in the Text charging himself to be the chief of sinners but particularly pointing out his sinnes what they were vers 13. I was a Blasphemer a Persecutor Injurious c. Thus free and open was Paul in these acknowledgments not regarding who or what they were that took notice of these his consessions whether Friends or Enemies Good or Bad nor caring how often he made them taking all occasions to do it as if he had thought he could never do it often enough Behold we then in him and these other Paterns the true disposition of a Gracious Soul oâ—… a truly penitent sinner one that hath truly repented of his sinnes and hath tasted of the grace and mercy of God in the pardoning and forgiving of them he will ever after be ready to confess and acknowledge them and that not onely to God but also to Men and that not onely Secretly but Openly as occasion is offered Q. But what you will say Is every Christian bound to imitate these Paterns to follow their Example doing as they did making such an open confession and acknowment of his sinnes 1. To this I Answer 1. In some cases he may be as viz. 1. where the sinnes have been open Open sinnes as they call for open Reprehension Them that sinne rebuke before all that others also may fear so Paul willeth Timothy to do 1 Tim. 5. 20. that is that do sin openly to the publick scandal of others as Beza and some others expound it so for open Confession and acknowledgment Such had Davids such had Salomons and such had Paul's sinnes been sinnes that all the Churches rung of You have heard of my conversation in times past saith he to his Galatians Gal. 1. 13. how I did so and so They had heard of his Sinnes and therefore they shall hear of his Repentance testified and declared by his hearty confession and acknowledgement of those sinnes 2. Again 2dly where the Glory of God or the Publick Good requires it there though the sinnes have been private
and secret yet the acknowledgement of them ought to be publick where the glory of God requires it Upon this ground Ioshuah requires Achan to make an open Confession of that sinne which he had done secretly My son saith he give glory to God and confess unto Him and tell me what thou hast done Josh. 7. 19. where the publick good requires it Upon this ground Ionah confesseth and acknowledgeth his sinne unto the Marriners for the saving of those that were in the Ship with him Ionah 1. 12. I know saith he to them that for my sake this great Tempest is come upon you But in the second place we speak not here of what all Christians are bound to do but what upon occasion being Penitent sinners they will be ready to do This was Paul's case in the Text. This acknowledgement of his was spontaneous and voluntary he being induced thereunto by no other respect but onely out of his desire to take shame to himself and give glory to God In special the glory of his Grace which having been so gloriously manifested in and upon him in receiving so great a sinner to Mercy he desireth to take all occasions to extol and magnifie And to that end it is that he maketh such frequent mention of his sinnes making such open confessions and acknowledgements of them And upon this ground great Sinners specially having tasted of the like Mercy in pardoning their sinnes they will be ready upon all occasions to acknowledge them that so they may declare and set forth the riches of Gods Grace exercised towards them Come and hear all ye that fear God and I will declare what he hath done for my Soul saith David Psal. 66. 16. And thus a Penitent Sinner having tasted of saving Mercy in the pardoning and healing of his Sinnes he will be ready ever-after to declare and set forth what God hath done for his Soul To which end as occasion is offered he will be forward in the confessing and acknowledging of his Sinnes But What kind of Acknowledgement is that which he maketh That is the second Question propounded A Question of great consequence and importance and that for the differencing and distinguishing of this from other false and counterfeit Acknowledgements Even wicked and ungodly men may and sometimes do upon occasion confess and acknowledge their sinnes So did Cain Mine iniquity is greater than it can be forgiven so our Margin readeth it following Montanus and others Gen. 4. 13. So did Pharaoh I have sinned saith he to Moses once and again Exod. 9. 27. 10. 16. So did Saul I have sinned against the Lord saith he to Samuel 1 Sam. 15. 24. And so did Iudas I have sinned in betraying innocent Blood saith he to the Chief Priests Mat. 27. 4. And the like meer carnal men will sometimes be ready to do Being charged and pressed by the Ministers of God or others especially when the Hand of God lyeth Heavy upon them now they will be ready to assent unto what Paul here saith of himself confessing themselves to be sinners great sinners yea the chief of Sinners Thus we may sometime meet with Pauls words coming out of the mouths of those who never knew what Paul's spirit meant They will upon occasion acknowledge their sinnes who never knew what it was to Repent of them How then shall we distinguish betwixt the one and the other The acknowledgement of a sinner truly Penitent and that which cometh from a spirit of Hypocrisie in a wicked or carnal man In Answer hereunto let me present you with some few properties of this sincere Acknowledgement whereby it may be discerned from that which is false and counterfeit In all which I shall still have an eye to the Confessor here in the Text this blessed Apostle illustrating each particular from his practice and example The acknowledgment of the true Penitent sinner is first Voluntary and Free So it is though injoyned yet not extorted not constreined Such is the Hypocrite's acknowledgement for the most part extorted and drawn from him against his will either by some Iudgement of God present or imminent felt or feared or by the Rack of a tormenting Conscience Such was Pharaohs confession to Moses drawn from him as water is out of a Still or Lymbick by the fire put under it by the Judgements of God which he and his people lay under And such was Iudas's confession to the Chief Priests extorted from him by the rack as I said of a tormenting Conscience In such cases even the worst of men will sometimes confess and acknowledge their sinnes which at other times when their condition is quiet and prosperous they will hardly be brought to do Like a man that is sick being at Sea and so emptieth his stomack freely but no sooner comne a Shoar but he is well again and all is quiet But it is otherwise with the True Penitent In acknowledging of sinne he is a Volunteer doing what he doth as Peter would have Ministers to feed their flocks 1 Pet. 5. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not by constraint but willingly Such are Gods People in all the services they do unto Him or for Him they are a willing people Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy Power Psal. 110. 3. When God exerciseth his power the power of his Grace upon a poor Sinner changing and renewing him bringing him home to himself then he cometh unto him willingly freely pouring forth his Soul before him in a voluntary confession and acknowledgement of his Sinnes Willingly confessing unto God and not unwillingly unto Men. And this he is ready to do not onely in times of Distress but even then when his condition is in all respects most Comfortable Such is the acknowledgement which here we meet with in the Text. Paul when he uttered these words he was in a quiet and comfortable condition under no distress whether outward or inward in body or mind yet even then he remembred his sinnes and remembring them he acknowledgeth them Which also as I have shewn he was ready to do upon all occasions at all other times His readiness and forwardness herein manisesting that these his Confessions were not extorted but voluntary Extorted Confessions such as those upon the Rack are seldom true ever suspicious True confession and acknowledgement whether to God or Man will be free and voluntary And so in the second place Ingenuous and full Such is not the Hypocrites confession If he be drawn to an acknowledgement of his sinnes yet therein you shall find him for the most part very partial and sparing as much as may be concealing and hiding them Even as Solomon saith of the Sluggard Prov. 19. 24. He hideth his hand in his bosome and is loath to put it forth to bring it to his mouth Thus dealeth the Hypocrite with his sinnes his beloved his darling sinnes he hideth them in his bosome concealing them as much as may be loath
penitent Confessour whilest he maketh that general confession Thus was it with our Apostle here in the Text. His confession indeed runs in general tearms that he was the chief of sinners but it is with a reference and respect unto those particular sinnes which he had confessed and acknowledged by name but two verses before I was a Blasphemer a Persecutor c. This is the confession of a true penitent sinner though the tongue may utter that confession iâ—… general tearms yet the heart even at the same time particularizeth having an eye to some particular sinne or sinnes from which that confession immediately ariseth and without which it could not be a hearty confession The Maxim is true not more in Philosophy than in Divinitie Genera nec agunt nec patiuntur Generalities never throughly affect a man It must not be meerly a general notion of sinne but a distinct apprehension of some particular sinne or sinnes that will work upon the heart aright so as to draw from it a cordial and affectionate acknowledgment of sinne And such again is the confession of the true Penitent sinner Take that for a fourth Property a cordial and affectionate Acknowledgement not meerly Verbal and Formal Such is the Hypocrite's confession a Tongue-Confession an acknowledgement from the Teeth-outward meerly verbal and formal So may the Confessions of Papists for the most part be looked upon which they make to their Priests striking their hands upon their Breasts and crying out Mea culpa mea culpa My sinne my sinne whilst their Hearts it may be are not affected with what they make shew of And such and no better it is to be feared are the acknowledgements of some and not a few among us in the Confession of sinnes which they make in the publick Congregation Therein they draw nigh unto God with their Mouth and honour him with their Lips as the Lord saith of his people the Jewes Isa. 29. 13. Offering up the Calves of their lips unto him as the Prophet speaks Hos. 14. 2. in saying after the Minister repeating the words of the Confession But in the mean time their hearts are far removed and estranged from him being no wayes affected with what their Tongues utter and pronounce And even so is it in their private Confessions They make them but a Lip-labour It may be making use of some Set-form composed by themselves or others they only repeat the words in a Formal and Customary way but without any inward affection their Hearts not being touched with the sense and feeling of what their Tongues utter and confesse Now as for such Confessions being heartless Sacrifices they are odious and abominable unto God who as he 〈◊〉 cheth the Heart so he requireth It without it not regarding what ever Sacrifices can be offered up unto Him Thou desirest not sacrifice thou delightest not in burnt-offering saith the Psalmist not any service that is meerly external The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a heart kindly broken with the sense of Sin Psal. 51. 16 17. And such are the Sacrifices which are offered up by the Penitent Sinner to his God All his Prayers all his Confessions they come from a broken and a contrite Heart beâ—…ng hearty Confessions â—…affectionate Acknowledgements Such we shall find the confessions of this our Apostle which we so frequently meet with breathing forth a great deal of inward Affection expressing both sorrow and shame indignation and detestation And such are the acknowledgements of the True Penitent attended and accompanyed with Sorrow and Shame With sorrow I will declare mine iniquity saith David and I will be sorry for my sinne Psal. 38. 18. With Shame the Publican making his confession in the Temple he doth it with shame Standing afar off in some remote part of the outward Court of the Temple he would not so much as lift up his eyes unto Heaven being ashamed of himself Luke 18. 13. And so with Indignation and Detestation Thus Paul speaking of what he had done his forwardness in persecuting of the Saints Act. 26. 11. I was saith he exceedingly mad against the Saints A speech savouring of great Indignation against himself And thus Iob saith that he Abhorred himself and Repented in dust and ashes Job 42. 6. And Paul speaking of his Corinthians sheweth how they shewed themselves True Penitents by their Indignation and Revenge Indignation against their Sin and Revenge which they took upon themselves for it 2 Cor. 7. 11. And to these is ever joyned a serious resolution of abandoning the sinne confessed never more to return to it again but to forsake it Who so confesseth and for saketh his sinnes shall have mercy saith the Wiseman Prov. 28. 13. Such was that confession which good Shecaniah made unto Ezra in the name of the people Ezra 10. 2 3. We have trespassed against our God saith he and have taken strange Wives c. Now therefore let us make a new Covenant with our God to put away all these strange Wives c. And thus Elihu in Iob describeth the confession of a true Penitent Iob. 34. 31 32. Surely it is meet to be said unto God I have borne chastisement I will not offend any more That which I see not teach thou If I have done iniquitie I will do no more Such is the confession of the true Penitent Cordial and Affectionate Here is a fourth Property Take but one more and that briefly Being thus Cordial it is also Filial Such is the Confession which he maketh to his God not servile Such is the confession of the Hypocrite oft-times a servile a slavish confession the fruit not of love to God but of fear and that not of a Reverential but a Slavish fear Such was Balaams Confession which he maketh Numb 22. 31 34. when he saw the Angel stand before him with a drawn Sword then he cryeth out I have sinned And so it is with some wicked and ungodly wretches being in a strait as he was stopped in their course the Angel of the Lord meeting them as he did him with a drawn Sword some Judgment of God threatning them it may be Death it self staring them in the face so as they apprehend themselves ready to drop into Hell now they will confess and acknowledg their sinnes But this they do not out of any love to God or hatred of their sins but meerly out of a slavish fear It may be in a despairing way as Cain and Iudas did Now in this the acknowledgment of a true penitent sinner differs that is a filial acknowledgment Such was that of the Prodigal Son who cometh unto his Father as a Father making his Confession to him under that Notion Father I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight Luk. 15. 21. And thus the penitent sinner comes unto his God confessing his sinnes unto him not simply as to a Iudge from whom he expects nothing but severity of Justice as Achan did his sinne to Ioshua Josh.
to themselves Let such take notice how farre they are from Pauls disposition who upon all occasions shews himself forward and ready to confess and acknowledge against himself his former sinnes that so taking shame to himself he might give Glory to God Never was he more ready to take unto himself the praise of his good deeds when he was a Pharisee than now he is to take both the blame and shame of his evil ones being a Christian. Certainly the Soul that will not be brought to the confessing and acknowledging of those sinnes whereof it is convinced must needs be in a state of Impenitency lying under the power and guilt of sinne A third sort there are I shall hasten what I may who it may be at some times and upon some occasions will confess and acknowledge their sinnes but their acknowledgements are not sincere but hypocritical and counterfeit And such they will appear to be if brought to the Test tryed by the Touchstone of that five-fold Property which I have held forth to you 1. Either they are not Voluntary and free but extorted They will not confess but when they are brought to the Rack never but when they are in some Strait having some Judgement of God lying upon them or threatning them Then it may be God and Men shall hear of them and from them then they will confess against themselves Whereas at other times they are wholly silent in this way 2. Or else in the second place there is no ingenuity in their Confessions And thence is it that if they be drawn to confess and acknowledge ought against themselves they deal very partially hiding their sinnes what they may seeking to excuse colour extenuate shift them off to others as you have heard not willing to lay them forth open and naked and so to deal plainly either with God or Man Still they will be keeping back part 3. Or thirdly their Confessions are onely in the gross in a general way without any distinct reflection upon any particular sins which draws from them that acknowledgement 4. Or in the fourth place they are meerly verbal and formal without any true inward sense and feeling of the sinnes which they confess and acknowledge 5. Or else in the last place what they do is altogether in a despairing way without either sense or hope of Mercy All these as I have showen you they are evidences of a false and counterfeit Acknowledgment And yet such and no better are the Confessions which the greatest part it is to be feared do rest contented with Never regarding to get their hearts brought to such a voluntary ingenuous particular cordial and filial Acknowledgment as might evidence to themselves and others the truth of their Repentance There is yet a fourth sort and that is the worst of all such as will make Confession or rather Profession of their sinnes but not as sinnes not confessing them with sorrow and shame with indignation and detestation with a serious purpose and resolution of forsaking and abandoning of them as the true Penitent doth but rather boasting of them and glorying in them I wish there were none such to be found among Christians at this day such as glory in their sinnes which they shew not as Beggars do their Soars to move pity and compassion in the Beholders but as Souldiers do their Wounds and Skars which they have received in some honourable Service accounting it their Honour their Glory that they have been the chief of sinners Such monsters of Men there have been and I fear yet are men so hardned in their sinful wayes and courses so far given over to that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to a Reprobate minde as the Apostle saith of the Gentiles Rom. 1. 28. so far past all sense and feeling as he saith of some Ephes. 4. 19. as that they are not ashamed to declare their sinnes They declare their sinne as Sodom as the Prophet saith of the People of the Iews Isa. 3. 9. Making their boast thereof as those Idolaters did of their Idols Psal. 97. 7. And as Lamech did of his Cruelty and Bloodshed Gen. 4. 23 24. Yea it may be boast of that which they never did Surely a greater height of impiety than is to be found in the Devils Kingdom in Hell it self There those damned Souls they complaine and cry out of their sinnes and curse the time that ever they committed them As for boasting of them glorying in them they are far from it Now as for such let them know that this their boasting their glorying shall I speak it in the Apostle's Language to his Corinthians in another case 1 Cor. 5. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is not good Nay it is most horrid most impious Such an impiety as hath a woe a most dreadful woe attending upon it Hear and tremble at it you who stand in any degree guilty in this kind They declare their sinne as Sodom and they hide it not saith the Prophet speaking of the Iews in the Text forecited Isa. 3. 9. As they shewed it in their deeds so they spared not to publish it with their tongues not in way of confession as David Psal. 32. 5. but in a way of profession as Lamech Gen. 4. 23 24. as our new Annotator explains it Thus did they declare their sinnes as Sodom as the men of Sodom who openly professed what they commonly practised or intended But what follows Woe unto their souls for they have rewarded evil to themselves By these wicked courses they draw down the Vengeance of God upon their own heads Oh far be this from any one of us The shameful parts of the body nature teacheth to hide and cover them If any shall be so immodest as to discover them to open view we should presently conclude him to be either mad or drunk not himself What is it then to uncover the nakedness and filthiness of the Soul And not onely to uncover it but to boast of it to glory in it As for such well may we say of them what the Apostle doth of those voluptuous belly Gods Phil. 3. 19. that their glory is their shame So is it now and so they shall find it another day at that great day when as he there saith of them Destruction shall be their end Paul confessing his sinnes here in the Text he doth it openly before God and Men but he doth it upon another account viz. That he might take the shame of them to himself And herein propound we him as a Patern for our Imitation Be we all of us such Confessors ready and forward upon all occasions to confess and acknowledg our sins as he was Let that be the word of Exhortation which as in the former Branch might be directed to two sorts of persons First to such as never yet knew what a true confession and acknowledgment of sinnes meant Secondly to such as have been practisers in this way
But I shall put them both together pressing this duty upon all Those which never yet did it let them set upon it Those who have done it let them be frequent in it This is that which the Lord calleth for from his people the people of the Iews Jer. 3. 13. Onely acknowledge thine iniquity And this he expecteth and looketh for at the hands of all those that look for mercy from him that they should confess and acknowledg their iniquities And this do we all and every of us Sure I am there is none of us but have just cause to do it Though we be not so great sinners as Paul was yet sinners we are and great sinners all of us And so looking upon our selves confesse we our sinnes This do we in the first place unto God This is the confession which Scripture most urgeth and calleth for at the hands of all as being the most necessary confession My Son give I pray thee glory to the Lord God of Israel and make confession unto him â—…aith Ioshua to Achan Josh. 7. 19. I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord saith David Psal. 32. 5. Confession unto others it may be at some times and in some cases useful and profitable but this at all times necessary A Doctrine far differing from that of the Church of Rome which runneth almost wholly upon another kind of confession viz. Auricular confession as they call it confession made in the ears of the Priest This is the Confession which they so much cry up making it a main part of their Religion insisting so much upon it in all their Tracts and Catechisms calling and accounting it a Sacrament and making it one of the Essential parts of true Repentance imposing it strictly upon All and requiring it as a matter not only of Expedience but of absolute Necessity where it may be done without which no man can receive Absolution or Remission of his Sinnes or have any entrance into the Kingdom of God In this the Doctrine of our Church is and may it ever so be far dissonant from and contrarie to theirs Which however in some cases it alloweth and upon good grounds approveth the Confession of sinnes unto the Ministers of God as expedient and useful yet Confession unto God and onely that it holdeth to be of absolute Necessity And so looking upon it let every of us thus confesse our sinnes confesse them unto Him Which do we in Publick in Private doing it in such a manner as it may be acceptable unto Him and profitable to our selves To which end have we an eye to that fivefold Property which I mentioned before 1. See that our Confession be Voluntary and Free Bring we our hearts willingly to the work See that our Confession come from us like Water out of a Spring not like Water out of a Still which is forced by fire Not deferring and putting it off till the Evil day Better do it now than stay till God bring us to the Rack and so extort a confession from us Extorted confessions being as I said ever suspicious they will yield little comfort to the Soul What herein we do do it willingly 2. And 2dly do it Ingenously Acknowledge we our sinnes unto God and hide them not A bootlesse and vain attempt to go about to hide our sinnes from him in whole or in part before whose Eyes all things are naked and open as the Apostle tells us Heb. 4. 13. In our Confessions therefore deal plainly and openly with him Shewing our selves as ready to confess our sinnes unto him as we would be to receive mercy from him Do it ingenuously and fully 3. And do it Particularly not resting contented with an Implicit Confession which as one saith is little better than an Implicit Faith not thinking it enough to confess and acknowledge that we are sinners great sinners but deal particularly and distinctly producing our particular sinnes laying them before the Lord specially the chief of them 4. And in the 4th place do it Cordially Let our Confessions be not onely Tongue but Heart-Confessions See that we be inwardly affected with the sense and feeling of those sins which we confess 5. And in the last place let our Confessions be Filial come we unto God not onely as a Iudge but as a Father laying hold upon his Mercy in Christ for the pardon of those sinnes which we confesse Thus confesse we our sinnes unto God To excite and stir us up whereunto take we notice that this is the way to mercy The onely way and the sure way to it Scripture is expresse for both The onely way I am merciful saith the Lord onely acknowledge thine iniquitie Jer. 3. 12 13. as if he had said Other way there is none for thee or any other to obtain Mercy at my hands but this The sure way So much these promises import He that confesseth and forsaketh his sinnes shall have mercy Prov. 28. 13. If we confess our sinnes God is faithful and just to forgive us our sinnes and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness 1 Joh. 1. 9. God having as it were bound himself by Promise upon Confession of sinnes to bestow Remission now it standeth not onely with his Mercy but with his Iustice to do it Not that confession can merit pardon at the hands of God more than at the hands of men but onely in regard of His gracious promise which having made he will be faithful in the performance of This is the way the sure and onely way to find Mercy A way which God himself hath layed out and a way which his people have ever taken for the obteining of it both for themselves and others and a way wherein they have ever found what they sought for All these I might show you if need were And besides this I might show you diverse other benefits redounding to the penitent sinner from this practise This is the ready and onely way to ease the heart being burdened with sinne thus to poure it forth before God in such humble and hearty confessions and acknowledgments The opening of our grief unto a friend is an ease to the heart much more to do it unto God When I kept silence saith David my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long Psal. 32. 3. Whilest he hid his sinne he could have no rest he roared through pangs of Conscience but confessing it his Soul was quieted he thereby obteined what he then sought for Pardon and Remission I said I will confesse my transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquitie of my sinne so it followeth vers 5. Let these Motives induce us to be willing to confess our sinnes unto God And 2dly upon occasion be not unwilling to do it unto Men. 1st Privately whether to the Ministers of God or others Confess your sinnes one to another saith Saint Iames Jam. 5. 16. that is say
12. so of what they are by Nature to the beholding of the corruption of their hearts and the errours of their lives These they know Our transgressions are with us and our iniquities we know them saith the Church Isa. 59. 12. And so know them as they do not cannot know the sinnes of others In themselves as you heard before they take notice of the body of sinne the mass of sinful corruption which is in them which in others they see not but by reflecting upon themselves Thus they may see it Even 〈◊〉 in water face answereth to face so the heart of man to man saith Solomon Prov. 27. 19. The face which a man seeth in the water or in a glass it is in all points like unto his own of the same feiture colour complexion Even such a similitude there is between the hearts of one man and another How ever Grace maketh a change making men new Creatures differing from themselves and so from others yet by nature there is no difference as the Apostle tells us Rom. 3. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is no difference or distinction all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God That is as some expound it and as we find these words the Glory of God used by the same Apostle 1 Cor. 11. 7. having all alike sinned in Adam they are alike deprived of the Image of God wherein man was at the first Created consisting in Holiness and Righteousnes and consequently all alike infected with Original Corruption which is the Image of Satan all alike disfigured and deformed So as a man reflecting upon himself he thereby cometh after a sort to see what is in another Ex suo ingenio aliorum ingenia aestimans measuring others by himself guessing at their Corruption by his own But this he seeth onely in a Glass by reflexion from his own heart and consequently his knowledg hereof is not so clear and certain as that which he hath of himself As for his own corruption that he is well acquainted with being sensible how indisposed he is to what ever is good how proâ—…e to all manner of evil And as he knoweth his own heart better than he doth the heart of any other so also his life as his inward Corruption which is the Fountain so his actual sinnes which are the Streams These he knoweth better than he doth the sinnes of any others Many sins he must take notice of in others but of more in himself Mine iniquities are more than the hairs of my head saith David Psal. 40. 12. This a man may say of himself rather than of another being as the Penitent sinner is a diligent and constant observer of himself observing his daily slips and infirmities his daily commissions and omissions which he cannot do in another In others he taketh notice onely of their open sinnes in himself of his secret sinnes which as they are more in number so they may be more heinous in nature than the open sinnes of others And besides observing his own sinnes he knoweth the nature and quality of them better than he can do of the sins of others In others he taketh notice of the outward Acts of such or such sinnes seeing them or hearing of them but in himself he taketh notice also of the circumstances accompanying his own sinnes which many times exceedingly do aggravate them So as whereas he doth but guess at the greatness of other mens sinnes judging them by the outward appearance he Weigheth his own Even as the Lord is said to weigh the wayes of men Isa. 26. 7. Thou most upright doest weigh the path of the just Pondering all their goings as the Wiseman saith of him Prov. 5. 21. The wayes of man are before the eyes of the Lord and he pondereth all his goings Taking exact notice of all their Actions weighing them as Hannah hath it in her Song 1 Sam. 2. 3. The Lord is a God of knowledge and by him Actions are weighed And as their Actions so their Hearts and Spirits The Lord weigheth the Spirits saith the Wiseman Prov. 16. 2. repeated cap. 21. 2. Like as the Goldsmith that weigheth his Gold he taketh exact notice of every grain so doth God ponder and weigh all the actions words and thoughts of Men as their good works so their sinnes taking notice of every circumstance that may make them either lighter or heavier extenuate or aggravate them And thus doth the true penitent sinner desire to weigh and ponder his own sinnes considering not onely the sinnes themselves but the circumstances wherewith they are attended which oft-times are great aggravations And so by putting these grains into his own ballance which he cannot do in anothers his own sinnes in his apprehension come to weigh down the sinnes of others though haply in themselves not so heavy as others Thus is he better acquainted with himself than with others with his own heart and life with his own sinnes his own inward Corruption the pravity of his Nature the Rebellion of his own Will the Inordinacy of his own Affections as also with his own actual sinnes both as to the number and nature of them And hence is it that he cometh to be so censorious towards himself judging his own sinnes more and greater than the sinnes of others and so himself a greater sinner than others Besides this in the second place as he seeth and weigheth his own sinnes so he feeleth them Which he doth not the sinnes of others The sinnes of others he taketh notice of by the Eye or Ear either by hear-say or at the most being an eye-witness of them and so knoweth them onely by speculation but his own sinnes he feeleth them Feeling the Body of sinne stirring in him even as Rebecca selt the two twins stirring and striving in her Womb Gen. 25. 22. thus doth he feel Corruption striving and struggling with Grace of which Paul complains Rom. 7. Besides he feeleth his Actual sinnes which it may be lye heavy upon his Soul As David saith his sinnes did upon him Psal. 40. 12. Mine iniquities saith he have taken hold upon me so that I am not able to look up which may be understood not onely of the Judgements of God which then lay upon him whereof his sinnes were the cause but even of his sinnes themselves which lay heavy upon his Soul And so is it in measure with all true Penitent sinners they are such as either do feel or have felt the weight and burden of their sinnes being weary and heavy laden with them as our Saviour giveth a Character of them Mat. 11. 29. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as labour under the sense of sinne feeling it lying upon them as an intolerable burden And this again maketh them think their own sins greatest So it did Paul here as you have heard He saw and heard of the sinnes of others but they did not lie upon him as his own did and therefore he judgeth
vers 12. Who art thou that judgest another In judging and censuring of others be we sparing and wary in the mean time turning our censures upon our selves Which as it will be more safe so more useful Be we strict inquisitors into our own hearts and lives Bring both to a scrutinie and to a censure And herein spare not to excercise our severity Not that I would have Christians to be over-harsh against themselves so as to pass too rigid censures upon their own persons or actions It is the Preacher's advice as you heard before Be not wicked over much Eccles. 7. 17. i. e. judicio tuo in thine own judgment An extream which sometimes good and gracious Souls are subject to Out of a deep apprehension which they have of their own sinnes their weaknesses and their wants they are ready to passe harsh censures upon themselves sometimes adjudging themselves to be Hypocrites sometimes charging upon themselves that great and unpardonable sinne the sinne against the Holy Ghost which notwithstanding they are very farr from being such as desire nothing more then to hearken to the Motions and Dictates thereof In this Christians must be wary and tender whilest they are not uncharitable towards others they must take heed of being so to themselves In the mean time let them not forbeare to judge and censure themselves to passe censure upon their own sinnes their inward and secret corruptions their outward and actual Transgressions their sinful Commissions and Omissions And herein let them be impartial not conniving at any thing in themselves not looking upon their own sinnes through false glasses but beholding them as they are let them passe a righteous judgment upon them judging and censuring themselves for them according to their demerit And this let every of us be exhorted to do Motives hereunto take one or two instead of many 1. This is the next and onely way to prevent Gods Censures If we would judge our selves we should not be judged of the Lord saith the Apostle to his Corinthians 1 Cor. 11. 31. Hereby may many temporal Iudgements be prevented However that Eternal Iudgement As for Temporal Iudgements they may and oft-times do befall those who have thus prejudged themselves So was it with David notwithstanding that he had judged himself for that sinne of his in numbring the People acknowledging that he had therein sinned greatly and done very foolishly yet he hath a three-stringed whip held forth to him a three-fold judgement offered to him to take his choice of Famine Sword or Pestilence one of which he must feel of Yet by this means we may come to escape that dreadful censure the sentence of Eternal Condemnation which shall be passed upon all those who never thus judged themselves at the last day This praejudicium will prevent that Iudicium Thus fore-judging our selves we may prevent the terrour of that last Judgement Again this is the way to ease our selves of the burden of sinne by thus burdening our selves with it Allevat penitus errores qui ipse se onerat saith Ambrose He who thus burdens himself with charging his sins home upon himself by so doing he shall lighten the burden of sinne that it will not lie so heavy upon his Soul as otherwise it would To be thus Heavy-laden is the way to Rest Mat. 11. 28. This is the way the next way to obtein Mercy at the hands of God It was the way which Benhadads servants took to find mercy from the King of Israel to come to him with Ropes upon their heads 1 King 20. 31. So censuring and condemning themselves aforehand as Capital Offendors having deserved death No readier way to find Mercy at the hands of God than for a man to be thus his own judge and to be thus severe against himself In quanâ—…um non peperceris tibi in tantum tibi Deus crede parcet By how much lesse sparing thou art to thy self saith another of the Antients Tertullian by so much the more sparing believe it thou shalt find God to be unto thee This is the next way to sue forth a Pardon So David apprehended it who maketh use of this as an Argument to move God to shew mercy to him in the pardoning of his sinne his acknowledging that he had sinned greatly and done very foolishly Now beseech thee O Lord saith he take away the Iniquitie of thy servant for I have done very foolishly 2 Sam. 24. 10. A strange Argument one would think to make use of to such a purpose to induce God to shew mercy to him by aggravating his sinne in such a manner Carnal reason would have thought it might have been a more likely way to have pleaded some excuse and to have extenuated his sinne what he could Not so David apprehended this as the right way and so he sound it not to go about to hide or extenuate but to lay open and to aggravate his sin to the height In this the case is different betwixt God and Man Before men offendors are oft-times acquitted by the means of such Pleas and excuses as they make use of It is not so with God With him he that covereth his sinne seeketh to conceal it or to excuse it shall not prosper as the Wiseman telleth us Prov. 28. 13. not prosper in his suit for mercy at the hands of God Would we obtein mercy from him do not deal deceitfully with him But deal we impartially betwixt him and our own Souls charging our selves home in giving in our accounts to him Not taking the like course that that unjust Steward in the Gospel put his Masters debtors upon in giving in their accounts unto him that for an hundred one shonld set down fifty another eighty as we have it in the Parable Luke 16. 6 7. This we find there commended in him as a politick device tending to his and their advantage but so will it not be found in those that shall give in the like accounts to their God Their diminishing will be an augmenting of their Debt And therefore in this case deal we plainly charging our selves to the utmost This is the onely way to procure a gracious and full discharge from God Let these few Motives suffice To which I might also as before sub-join some Directions shewing you how Christians may attain unto this to be such severe censurers of themselves In order to which the first work to be done is to get acquaintance with our selves to know our own hearts and lives to know our sinnes what they are how many how great To which end a serious and frequent examination is requisite taking special notice of our special sinnes as Paul here did of his And knowing them to feel them specially to feel that Body of sinne within us that mass of corruption which virtually conteins in it the Seeds of all sinnes By this means we shall come to see that in our selves which will make us ready to pass such a severe
assurance of the pardon of them 4. To get them throughly healed Q. 2. What benefit redoundeth from this practice A foursold Benefit 1. To make and keep the Soul humble 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rebellionis meae Montan. Transgressionis meae V. L. 2. To make Men thankful 3. To make them watchful over themselves 4. To make them pittiful towards others Caution Christians not to pore too much upon their sins so as to give way to inordinate dejections Sins to be remembred in a special way at special times Ian. 22. 1661. A day of Solemn Humiliation 2. Branch The Pe nitent sinner forward in acknowledging his own Sinnes Reas. 1 His Heart is full with the sense of Sinne. Reas. 2. The Bed of Sin is broken in him Two Questions resolved Q. 1. To whom is he so ready to make this acknowledgement 1. Unto God Both publickly and privately â—… 2. Unto men 1. Secretly or Privately 2. Openly and Publickly 1. In a Regular way 2. In a spontaneous way Upon their Conversion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est aperta clara voce Conliteri Paraeus ad loc Declarat palam profiteri Beza Ever after Three Eminent Confessours David Solomon Paul Q. whether all Christians be bound to follow these Paterns A. 1. In some cases they are as where the sins have been open peccantes intellige cum publico offendiculo Beza Gr. Annot. in loc 2. Where Gods glory the publick good require it A. 2. Penitent sinners though bound yet ready to make open confessions Q. 2. What kind of acknowledgement it is that the Penitent sinner maketh A. Five Properties of a true acknowledgement 1. It is Voluntary and Free 2. Ingenuous and Full. â—… Particular A good Confession made in general words but with reference to particular sins 4. Cordial and Affectionate True Confession accompanyed with Sorrow Shame With a serious purpose of forsaking the sin confessed 5. Filial Use 1. By way of Conviction Many discovered to be no true Penitents not being true Confessours 1. Such as were never convinced of sin 2. Such as being convin ced will not be brought to confess Not unto God Much less to Men. 3. Such as confess but not truly False Confession tried by a five-fold Touchstone They are not voluntary but extorted Not ingenuous but partial Only general Verbal and formal In a despairing way 4. Such as in stead of Confessing make Profession of their sins boasting in them Damned Souls far from such boasting Use. 2. All Exhorted to be such Confessours as Paul was 1. Confessing unto God Auricular Confession not necessary See that it be a right Confession suiting with that fivefold Property Voluntary Ingenuous Particular Cordial Filial Motive This the only and sure way to obtâ—…in Mercy This the ready only way to eaâ—…e the heart 2. Confesse unto Men. Privately Openly Scandalous sinners to make open Confession That they may give glory to God Take shame to themselves Give Satisfaction to those whom they have offended or in dangered Herein to deal sincerely â—…ir 1. Get a general knowledg of sinne 2. A particular Conviction 3. Compunction and Contrition 4. Some apprehension of Mercy 5. Begg from God his free Spirit Branch 3. The Penitent sinner a severe Censurer of himself Quest. Resp. 1. He is best acquainted with himself With his own Heaâ—…t With his own liâ—…e The pe nitent sinner weigheth his own sins Resp. 2. He feeleth them Resp. 3. His heart is tender Resp. 4. He hath tasted of Mercy Use 1. By way of Conviction divers â—…ensured to be no true penitents 1. Such as are â—…tterers of themselves whilest they are censorious of others 2. Such as are sparing in their censuring of themselves Diverse Pleas made use of by such for the extenuating of their sinnes 1. Others greater sinners than they 2. They are but as others 3. They have sinned through infirmity 4. They could not resist Sarans Temptations Paul sar from making use of any such Pleas. Use. 2. Exhortation Let all Christians be such self censurers of themselves Yet not being rash or over-rigid in these censures Mot. 1. This the way to prevent God's Censures Mot. 2. To ease the Soul of the burden of sinne and to procure the pardon of it Directions These words looked upon in reference to the former Obser. The Doctrine of Salvation by Christ to be particularly applied Resp. 1. This is true justifying saith 2. Hereby a Christian liveth upon earth 3. Hereby he shall live here after Use 1. The Doctrine of the Church of Rome confuted Use 2. Christians to bring home Christ with his Merits to themselves Q. How Christians may know that Christ came to save them A. By being truly Penitent Sinners Let not such Despair of Mercy though the chief of Sinners