Manner of it namely as it is made 1. by a particular Enumeration 2. by Aggravation of our sins before the Lord. CHAP. V. Of the second Act of Confession to wit Self-Condemnation Self-Condemnation does not at all consist in any willingness to go to Hell or contentedness to be Damn'd but only in a serious judging esteeming and acknowledging our selves worthy of Hell and Damnation for our sins Two Marks or Characters whereby we may be able to judge of our Self-Judging If we truly condemn our selves for our sins then 1. We shall humbly submit to any present punishment that the hand of God has already laid upon any of us 2. We shall be willing to bear any further punishment that God shall lay at any time upon any of us here in this World Particularizing and Aggravation have some place in Self-Condemning as well as in Self-Accusing I Now proceed to the second Act of Confession to wit Self-Condemnation which is the Sinner's passing Sentence upon or pronouncing Sentence against himself and judging himself worthy of all the Punishments legally due unto his sin namely of Corporal Spiritual Temporal and Eternal Judgments If we look into the Scriptures we shall easily find evident examples of this Self-Condemning or Self-Judging You may hear David making such a kind of Confession as we have all along described 1 Chron. 21.17 2 Sam. 24.10 17. And David said unto God I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing but now I beseech thee do away the iniquity of thy servant for I have done very foolishly I have done this thing there is his Self-Accusation and that in particular too as was before observ'd I have done this thing to wit numbred Israel and you have his Aggravation of it in those expressions I have sinned greatly I have done very foolishly greatly indeed against the Counsel of his friend Joab v. 3. of 21. of 1 Chron. and foolishly too for it was meerly out of a vain and proud humour And this he confesses with an Asseveration Which further aggravates Even I or lo I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed And then you have his Self-Judging Let thy hand I pray thee O Lord my God be on me and on my father's house v. 17. See this also clearly in the Example of the Prodigal 15 Luk. 21 Father I have sinn'd says he There is his Self-Accusing He accuses only himself here I have sinn'd he lays it not upon any of his idle Companions I have sinn'd particularly in my Prodigality Against Heaven and in thy sight there 's the Aggravation of his sin Against Heaven that is by an Hebraism sinn'd against God who dwells in Heaven and is the King of Heaven and whose Power is most conspicuous and glorious in Heaven Or I have sinn'd against Heaven the meanning may be says A. Lapide I have sinn'd grievously so as my sins cry aloud to Heaven for Vengeance Or I have sinn'd against Heaven because being call'd by God to Heaven I preferred Earth before Heaven earthly things before heavenly as 't is well known that wretched Cardinal did who preferred his part in Paris before a part in Paradise I have abus'd and offer'd affront to Heaven so that if Heaven had Reason and a Voice it would cry out against me and would accuse me to God that I have preferr'd earthly Delights and sinful sensual Pleasures before the Kingdom and Joys of Heaven I have sinn'd against Heaven and in thy sight that is thee seeing and beholding me I have been bold to sin when the Eye of God was upon me to sin in the very view of my Judge in the sight of the Living and All-seeing God who is highly offended with sin and can sufficiently avenge and punish it This Aggravation is usual in Scripture to signify and set forth the presumpâ—uousness of a sin It 's said that Nimrod was a mighty Hunter before the Lord or in the face of the Lord 10 Gen. 9. 38 Gen. 7. you read that Er Judah's eldest Son was wicked in the sight of the Lord and the Lord slew him the phrase denoteth he was a bold presumptuous impudent Sinner He goes on and am no more worthy to be called thy Son there is his Self-Condemnation as if he should have said I have walked unworthy of such a Father I have serv'd my own Vices and Lusts and I don't deserve to be called any more by thy Name I deserve to be for ever disown'd by thee to be quite cast out of thy Favor and Family and to be utterly Disinherited I am no more worthy to be called thy Son * Vers 19. Make me as one of thy hired servants Let me be any thing so I may be thine The Penitent Sinner comes before God as Benhadad's Servants did before Ahab 1 King 20.32 who came to him with Ropes about their Necks as Men judging themselves worthy to Die The poor Sinner as soon as he has arraign'd and accus'd himself presently passes on to the Sentence and represents in a Judicatory of his own even himself being Judge That a Sinner merits an high Calamity He unfeignedly stands on God's side and takes God's part against his sin and against himself giving God the glory of his Righteousness and Justice if he should condemn him and of his unsearchable rich Mercies if he shall be pleas'd to forgive him He uprightly and sincerely owns Damnation and charges himself with it as his due Portion and most just Inheritance Observe here by the way that Self-Condemning does not at all consist in any willingness to go to Hell or contentedness to be Damn'd To condemn our selves is always our bounden Duty but to be contented to be Damned is no where commanded nay if taken withâ—ut limitation it is prohibited because to be willing and contented actually to be Damn'd is in effect to be willing and contented to be for ever in a state of Enmity and Hatred and Sin against God and in an utter meâ—â—â—â—tâ— ever to glâ—râ—fy God or to do him any Service all which the condition of the Damn'd necessarily includes But Self-Condemâ—ing consists only in a serious judging esteeming and acknowlâ—dging our selves worthy of Hell and Damnation for our sins And with such a mind as this with such an holy humble broken frame and temper does every truly Penitent Sinner go to God in Confession Lord says he I confess I am indebted ten thousand Tâ—leâ—ts to thee and am unable to pay thee any one Penny I acknowledge thou may'st justly cast me into Prison and there keep me until I have paid the utmost farthing altho' I should lye there to â—il Eternity Lord I am become guilty before thee and have made my self liable to the Divine Wrath the deserved * Rom. 6.23 Wages of my sin is Death I acknowledge there is Matter enough of my Damnation and I cannot but wonder that the Sentence of the Law is not executed against me The Lord knows there are many
enough to confess over all our Confessions and to humble our selves for all our Humiliations CHAP. XIV The Third Vse of Exhortation Three Motives taken out of the Text 1. If we confess God will forgive us our sins 2. He will also cleanse us from all our unrighteousness What is meant by Cleansing This Benefit nothing inferior to the former 3. God's Faithfulness and Justice do stand engag'd to make good the promised Blessings to us God condescends to confirm his Promises because there are two things which make us prone to distrust especially his Pardoning Mercy 1. Our own contrary Nature and Practise 2. The due consideration of our heinous Sins and high Provocations Vse 3 A Third Vse shall be of Exhortation seriously and earnestly to provoke and press you to the practice and performance of this necessary Duty As there are in points of Faith fundamental Doctrines so there are in points of Practice fundamental Duties and among them none more necessary to Salvation than this of true Confession Having already given you Ten Reasons which may well serve as so many Motives I shall now use no other inducements to excite and quicken you to the Duty than those which the Apostle brings here in the Text and methinks those great Benefits and blessed Privileges of Confession may easily and effectually prevail with you to put you upon the practise and exercise of it 1 Mot. First then Let us confess because if we confess God will forgive us our sins God both can and will forgive sincere Self-humbling Penitents God can forgive sins by reason of his Sovereign Authority And his Wisdom hath pitch'd upon the most convenient way of Pardoning Sinners admirably providing therein for the greatest Honour of his Attributes and Laws which otherwise would have been in great danger of being slighted and contemn'd and for his attaining the ends of Government by deterring Men from sin which he this way plainly testifies and demonstrates his extream hatred of and severity against by the most notable Example of his Vindictive Justice and by engaging Men to Holiness and new Obedience for the future God hath an eye and respect to all this in Relaxing the Penal Law and taking off its Obligation upon a valuable Consideration sc the bitter Sufferings and bloody Death of the Holy Jesus his only and dearly beloved Son when at his Fathers Commandment he voluntarily assumed our Guilt and substituted himself a Sacrifice for Sin in our room and stead Now God can as Rector and Governor of the World and the Supream Judge offended most Honourably dispence with the Law which says The Soul that sinneth shall die upon Account of Christ's perfect sufficient Satisfaction and the compleat Compensation and full Amends made by him for the wrong done to God by the sins of Men. Which Dispensation does not in the least invite and encourage Men to continue in Sin but leads them to Repentance Reformation and Amendment of Life to a dying to sin as Christ died for it and to a * 2 Cor. 5.15 living henceforth not unto themselves but unto him which died for us For since God has taken this Course and used this Method Men have reason to conclude which is the excellent arguing of the learned * De Satisfact Christi cap. 5. Grotius That if God would not pardon the sins no not of Penitent Sinners unless Christ did stand in their stead to bear the punishment much less will he suffer contumacious Sinners to go unpunished And further God can forgive sins by reason of his abundant Mercy None may despair and say Their sins are greater than can be forgiven And as God is able so he is willing to forgive If God would not upon any terms have remitted the Eternal Punishment and Death due to Sinners all Religion had been extinguished the Fear and Worship and Service of God had for ever utterly perish'd from off the Earth thro' Mens despair of future Felicity but God is good and gracious propense to Pity Mercy and Clemency and ready to help relieve and make sinful and miserable Man happy Mercy pleaseth him He delighteth in Mercy Mic. 7. 18. If it were not so he would not have sent his Son into the World to make Satisfaction and purchase Remission He would never have made and established a New Covenant a Covenant of Grace never have offered Mercy so freely in the Gospel as he does commanding his Ministers to preach Remission of Sins and proclaim a General Pardon to all that will accept of it upon the necessary reasonable mild and gentle Terms and Conditions of Faith and Repentance and beseeching Sinners to accept of Pardon and be reconciled to himself and recording and transmitting such Illustrious Examples of his marvellous rich pardoning Mercy as we find evidently set forth in the compassionate Father's kind carriage towards his wild loose extravagant Prodigal Son Luk. 15. in the Parable of the two Debtors Mat. 18. and particularly and eminently in St. Paul who for this cause obtained Mercy that in him first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering for a Pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting 1 Tim. 1.16 It is part of God's Name by which he makes himself known the Lord God forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin Ex. 34.7 God is strongly inclined and fully resolv'd to pardon all sorts and kinds of sin which we humbly and heartily confess to him 2 Sam. 12.13 David said unto Nathan I have sinned against the Lord and Nathan from God said unto David the Lord hath also put away thy sin thou shalt not die Nay what saith David himself Psalm 32.5 I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord says he and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin I said in my heart I firmly purposed and resolved I said I will confess not I have confessed and thou forgavest No Word of Confession was yet in my Mouth but God's Ear was already in my Heart So * Enar. 2. in Ps 32. St. Austin descants and paraphrases on the Words Note further in David it is only actus inchoatus but it is actus consummatus in God There was no sooner a sincere purpose on David's Part but there was a real effect an actual performance on God's Part David did but say he would confess and God forgave the Iniquity of his Sin And so the Prodigal did but say I will arise and go to my Father and will say unto him Father I have sinned and we find that when he was yet a great way off his Father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him Luke 15.18 19 20. So ready and forward is our heavenly Father to be friends with us and reconciled to us upon our humble Submission and penitent Confession And hence it is that David makes his readiness to confess a ground of his hope in Prayer Psalm 51.1.2 3. Have mercy upon me blot out my
more than our sins barely and simply in themselves considered Circumstances are to Actions much like what Ciphers are to Figures which quickly make 1 the very least of all Figures but the beginning of Numbers by being placed with it stand for a 1000 an 100000 and therefore for thee to confess thy sin without it's appendant Circumstances it is at best to say the least thou canst of thy sin nay to hide any notable Circumstance in thy Confessions it is in effect even to cover thy sin Thus you see our Confessions of our sins can't be full and compleat without the aggravating Circumstances of our sins for sinful Circumstances are the most are the greatest part of our sins without these our sins are comparatively but little and light These are they that swell and double and treble the Accounts that encrease and enlarge the Bill that thicken and lengthen the Catalogue Besides leave but these out of thy Confession and thou wilt not be thorowly humbled in thy Confession thou wilt not be deeply affected with thy sins in thy Confession thy sins won't prick thee at thy Heart won't cut and wound thee in thy Confessions Now as we all wounded our selves with our sins in the Commission of them tho' we did not perhaps presently feel that wound so we should wound our selves with our sins in the Confession of them and indeed this wound tends to healing whereas the other tended to Death but our sins without their Circumstances are as a Sword without an Edge the Circumstances of sin they give it an edge they make it sharp keen and piercing By means of these we are very much mov'd and wrought upon in our Confessions and soundly humbled for our sins when we spread them before the Lord. Thus much for a touch of the Necessity of Aggravation of Sin as being absolutely necessary to Confession of Sin Now as the Duty is in it self necessary so the Performance of it is the great care and serious study of every Penitent Sinner who is so far from disguising masking vizarding or palliating his sin that he brings it in and makes it appear in it's own shape in its proper and natural Colours He acknowledges his sins to be Scarlet sins Camel sins to be sins of the greatest Magnitude of the deepest Dye He does dot savour his sin in the least he studies to make it as bad as it is in it self He readily owns all that in his particular sin which he acknowledges to belong to the ugly nature of Sin in general He strives to make the very worst he can of it He is severe and impartial in Self-Accusing He says as much against sin in himself as he would say against sin in any one else as much as any one else would say against his sin Nay he endeavours in his Confessions to say as much against his sins as God himself says against them in his Word He calls his sins by the same Names be they never so bad as the Scripture calls them He calls his neglect of Brotherly reproof as the Holy Ghost stiles it even * 19 lâ—vit 17. Hating his Brother in his Heart He calls his wilful transgression of God's known command * 1 Sam. 15.23 Rebellion and reckons it as bad as the Sin of Witchcraft and accounts his Stubborness to be as Idolatry He labours to give as strict a Judgment to make as rigid a Censure of his sins as the Just and Holy Law-giver himself does and to speak no more mildly and mincingly of them than he finds the very Spirit of Truth to speak of them When he has made himself vile by particularizing of his sins why he 'll make himself yet more vile by aggravating of them until they become out of measure sinful He thinks he can never say too much never enough against himself he thinks he can never sufficiently vilify and debase himself never lay himself low enough before God Of sinners I am chief says humble Penitent Paul 1 Tim. 1.15 and so says Tertullian in like manner * 〈…〉 perâ—terâ—â—a natâ—â— Tertulâ—â—e â—â—niâ—â—nt 〈◊〉 I am a most notorious Sinner as if I were born to no other end than to confess and repent It is is not here impertinent to propound the several Heads of Aggravation with which the Penitent Sinner amplifies and exaggerates his sins in his Confessions I might instance in these 1. In that he has sinned wilfully and voluntarily and this may contain two very great aggravations in it 1. That he has sinn'd wilfully against Light and Knowledge as against the very Light of Nature against the clear Light of the Sacred Scripture against the Light of good Education against the Light of the Preaching of the Gospel against the Light of his own Experiences against the Light of the wholsom Counsels sober Admonitions and seasonable Reproofs of Christian Well-wishing Friends 2. He aggravates his sins from the wilfulness of them in that he has sinn'd as against his Knowledge so upon no Temptation or upon very little Temptation in that he has sinn'd without any Illecebra from without without any Incentive but from himself And indeed this is as humbling an Aggravation as can be that I have sinn'd when it was easie for me to have forborn sinning that I sinn'd when I was neither blinded with Ignorance nor transported with Passion nor over-born with any kind of Temptation but did this and that deliberately and out of Choice sometimes studying and contriving how I might sin most handsomly and often seeking out Companions Occasions and Inflammations of my Lusts This Aggravation of sinning without any Temptation or with very little Temptation is hugely necessary for such as in ordinary buying and selling will Lye and Cheat for a Farthing for such as in common Talk will Swear out of an idle Custom or for a vain Compliment as if an Oath were the Enamel of a Speech the handsomest grace of a Sentence the chief and only thing that makes it come off cleverly And truly among all the sins in the World there is scarce any one of them mâ—re Temptation-less than Customary Swearing But 2. A second Topick of Aggravation may be this He aggravates his sins as from his wilfulness in sinning so from his sinning against the Means which God has us'd to reduce and reclaim him from his sins namely In that he has sinn'd against the Motions and Strivings Helps and Assistances of God's good and holy Spirit sinned against the Divine Mercies both General and Special both Temporal and Spiritual or in that he has sinn'd against the Divine Judgments either National or Personal either feared or felt either threatned or already inflicted But the Penitent Sinner chiefly and especially aggravates his sins from their being committed against intermixed and interwoven Mercies against the Mercies of God's Mercies and the Mercies of his Judgments compounded conjoin'd and united combin'd and conjugated in his wisest and most Providential Dispensations Lord says he I have now
22.34 Thus it was with Saul nothing but the pronouncing of his Rejection and the threatning the less of his Kingdom made him cry out unto Samuel I have sinned for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord 1 Sam. 15.24 Nothing but Terror of Conscience and the amazing fear and presumption of Hell and Damnation put Judas upon his Confession and caus'd him to cry out I have sinned iâ— that I have betrayed the innocent Hood Mat. 27.3 4. But how contrary to the slaâ—ish sullen Temper of wicked Men is the sweet ingenuous Disposition of the Penitent Sinner who readily confesses out of an heart sensible of the evil of Sin and drawn out with sincere Love and affection unto God! Lo this Man's Confession comes like Water out of a Spring with a voluntary freeness not like Water out of a Still which is fore'd with â—ire Pharaoh's and Balaam's and Sauâ—'s they confess only when they are in Danger but behold the Prodigal See here 's one confessing when he 's safe and secure in his Fathers Arms Luk. 15. I o here 's a Voluntier in Confession indeed Some would think when his Father's â—nger appear'd to be ever when he manifested no signs of his displeasure took no notice of any fault but seem'd to put up and pass in all when his Father had their forget it one would have though it he should now have done wisely not to have â—aked it up again himâ—â—â— When his Father fell upon his Neck and kiâ—s'd him and the black threatning Sâ—rme was so well brown ever when the sad freâ—â—ds and angry words which where deserv'd prov'd nothing else but pleasant Suâ—â—â—s and a 〈◊〉 Speeches one would have thought he should now have sâ—aâ—ed the mentioning on his fruit ommitted his Conâ—ession and Humiliation there b ing now no need of it but you find it hâ—â—e quae otherwise even while his Father â—â—â—ngâ—â— embraces and kindly entertains him his Hearâ— sweetly melts and freely breaks out into an hundle Confession and Acknowledgment of his sin Father says he â—â—rce armed against heaven and in 〈…〉 and am no more wordly to le cauâ—ed thy Son Sence of Love assurance of Faver will soonest of any thing put the â—â—â—ding Sinner upon Confession and that Confession must needs be voluntary and uncompulsory which only Love gently constrains the Penitent Sinner to make to his reconciled God and Father And thus I have done with the first Adjunct or Property of Confession True Confession is free and voluntary not forced and coaâ—t CHAP. VII The second Property of true Confes sion It is made with Hatred of Shame and Sorrow for our Sins These holy Affections must in our Confessions be laid out more upâ—n our Sin than any Punishment for Sin and must bear and hold sâ—me Proportion to the sins confess'd The Penitent Sinner does often outwardly express his inward Affection by Weeping and shedding of Tears Weeping is no infallible Sign or certain Token of an Heart truly sensible of Sin but not Weeping in some cases may well be suspected for a bad Sign 2. SEcondly True Confession is made with Hatred of Shame and Sorrow for our Sins He that truly confesses he does it passionately and feelingly he 's really sensible of and deeply affected with the sins he confesses His Confession is not verbal and formal only and from the Teeth outward but inward and Heart-deep He speaks from his very Soul he says no more than what he feels And truly these holy Afâ—ections are the very Life of Confession without them Confession is a very dull dead and heartless thing He that comes to make Confession without these Affections speaks but Words of Course and as it were by the by and his present Confession does but encrease and add to the number of his sins and so make Work for â—â—o her Confession It 's impoâ—sible to confess any sin aright and at the same time to retain the lâ—ve of it or bear any good affection to it it speaks a flat Contradiction Confession you have heard is the Condemning of one's self for one's sin Pray how can we condemn our sâ—lves to God for our sins unlâ—ss we condemn our sins in our selves Confession voâ—d of Affection is the greatest Meckery of God in the World and surely God can't be mov'd and affected with our Confessions of our sins unless we be thus mov'd and affected with our sins in our Confessions He therefore that confesses aright is ever touched with these suitable Aâ—â—ections 1. He perfectly hates the sin he confesses that 's one Affection he bears towards his sin He hates his sin out of a sâ—gâ—t of the odious ugly evil nature of it out of a sence of its Contrariety to God's Nature and Contradiction to his Will out of an apprehension of the guilt it has brought upon his own Person of the faith it has brought into his own Nature of its miscâ—tevousness to his own precious immortal Soul and destructiveness of his own spiritual good and eternal happiness 2 â—â— 18. He looks upon his sin as an evil and a littering and plainly hates it and wishes the very Death of that which cost the Death of Christ and has made him â—â—ble unto eternal Death He sees his sin in its own Câ—lâ—ars he beholds the mâ—sâ—â—ness and the danger of it and can't endure it his Heart rises up against his sin as strongâ— as ever his Stomack rises up against that which it naâ—â—â—ares he fully lâ—kes and abominates his sin so as were it to do again he would first suffer aâ— tâ—â—ng he would rather dâ—e than do it He hates his sin and leâ—â—es himself for his sin He lothes himself for that Deformity and â—â—â—â—ement which makes the very God of 〈◊〉 to lâ—the and abhor his own Creature Ezek. 36.21 Then shall you remember your own evil ways and â—eâ—r d urge that were not good and shall iâ— the your selves in your own sight for your miâ—â—i ies and for your abominations The Penitent Câ—rseâ—lor is filled with Self-displiâ—ency and Self-abhorrency Seeing I am evil says * 〈…〉 2. St. Austin to confess unto God is nothing else but to be displeas'd with my self The humble Sinner's Heart is angry and impatient against his sin and full of indignation agan st himself for his sin he fells quite out with himself in Confession and takes an holy Revenge upon himself for his sins Penitent Ephraim smote upon his Thigh 31 Jer. 19. in token of Astonishment at and deâ—eslation of his former vile and lewd courses The confessing Publican smote upon his Breast Luk. 18.13 in token of his wonderful great Contrition and to signify a will and desire even to punish himself for his faults and out of a real Hatred of his sin which Iâ—dged in his Heart His knocking upon his Breast shewed what mind and aâ—fectiâ—n he carried to his sin and declared his dâ—iâ—e utterly to destroy it Thus the humble Confessor hates his sin and is at odds and variance
why he seeks to conceal it So 't is here When a Sinner is not free to disclose and confess his sin to God it is because he has no sincere purpose to leave and forsake it no honest desire by the Grace and Help of God to be kept and preserved from it for the future A fly retention of sin is an Argument of the deceitfulness of the Heart but full Confession is a proof and demonstration that there is no Guile in a Man's Spirit Psal 32.2 And because Confession witnesses to a Man's self the Sincerity of his Repentance therefore it must needs give the Sinner good assurance that he is in a fair way of Recovery out of sin and danger And indeed a Man may safely conclude thus I find I can sincerely confess my sin to God therefore I hope I limit now be rid of it for it 's a certain Sign that the ill Quality is removing and the Disease going off when once it breaks out at the Lips and as in the Disease we commonly call the Small-Pox the greatest fear is either in their not appearing or in their present striking in again but there 's very good Hope of Life and Health if they break out kindly So here The Sinner has just cause to fear Death when his sins lie inward and strike to his Heart but if they come forth thick and be driven out abundantly in a free Confession he has then good reason to be of good chear and may well entertain some comfortable hopes of being freed from Sin and Death of enjoying his Soul's Health and obtaining Eternal Life 7 Reas We should confess and lay open our sins to God because Confession eases our troubled Spirits and disburdens our oppressed Consciences You know the opening of a Vein cools the Blood when our Hearts are full with the sence of our sins that they cannot hold and contain themselves then is it necessary to give a vent to our Hearts by confessing our sins This is a most rational way to receive Comfort in Griefs expressed are best eased and mitigated All Passions are allayed by vent and utterance This is true however the Devil the Father of Lyes suggests to us that in so doing we shall bring our selves to Despair that we shall run out of our Wits and even kill and destroy our selves and never live a Merry Day again if we offer to think of our old Sins and go about to rank them particularly and set them in order before God by a full and faithful and frequent Confession Let 's but try and we shall soon experimentally find as great Relief and Remedy to our uneasie and afflicted Consciences our troubled and burdened Souls by confessing our sins aright to God as ever any sick and oppressed Stomach did by throwing up the Food that offended and disagreed with it or Part that was Imposthumated by letting out the Corruption that pained and tormented it 8 Reas We must confess our sins because it were unreasonable Folly in us to go about to hide any sins from God and the wisest way to conceal them from others is to discover them to God There are two branches of this Reason 1. We should confess because it were unreasonable Folly in us to go about to hide any sins from God We may be the better for confessing but we cannot be the worse for confessing our sins won't be e'er the more known and divulged for our confessing of them to an Omniscient God St. Ambrose in his comment on the Parable of the Prodigal Son in the 15th of St. Luke speaking of those words of the Prodigal I will arise and go to my father and will say unto him Father I have sinned c. speaks excellently to the matter in hand and describes the weakness and folly of not confessing but covering and concealing our sins from God In vain says he wouldst thou hide any thing from him whom thou canst deceive in nothing and thou may'st reveal without danger what thou art sure is known already Surely the Malefactor would not conceal any thing from the Judge if he were certain the Judge knew all before-hand Let every one consider that God has a darting and piercing Eye that sees the very bottom of our Souls God sees not as Man sees he sees and judges the very Heart O God thou knowest my foolishness and my sins are not hid from thee says David Psal 69.5 He searches and tries the very reins Jer. 11.20 Alas fond Sinner God is intimately acquainted with thee and with thy ways he knows thee better than thou doest thy self Doest think to hide any thing from him Why cannot he that made all the Chambers of thy Heart for his own use unlock every Door and enter into every Room of it and search what is in every corner of it without thy help or leave Know and understand God is always in thee and with thee Thou art never so much alone but that thou art still in company with God never so much in secret but that all thou doest is * Heb. 4.13 naked and open and manifest unto the Eyes of the great God that fills Heaven and Earth He was present with thee even then when thou thoughtest none was near thee when no Eye of Man saw thee he saw thy wickedness he was a Spectator of thy sin If thou sayest surely the darkness shall cover me even the night shall be light about thee yea the darkness hideth not from him but the night shineth as the day the darkness and the light are both alike to him as the Psalmist speaks Psal 139.11 12. Hence it is that Devout Austin cries out in the 10th Book of his Confessions the 2d Chapter Lord what of me would be hid from thee if I would not confess to thee unto whose Eyes the great Ahyss and depth of Man's Conscience is naked and apparent I might indeed hide God from my self says he my self from God I could not This is the first branch of the 8th Reason God can take no Advantage against us by our Confessions for we tell him nothing he knew not before it is not instructing the Judge against our selves God himself was an Eye-witness of all we ever did and therefore it is gross Folly to go about to conceal any thing from God But further 2. As it's Folly to think to hide any one sin from God so the wisest way to conceal all hidden sins from others is to lay them open to God A free acknowledgment of sin to God is the best course can be taken to maintain the secresie of the Soul the only way to have one's secret sins cover'd is to discover them by Confession that so they may not be brought upon the Stage before all the World If we confess our sins God will conceal them if we take shame to our selves God will keep us from shame and dishonor but if we hide them God will uncover them perhaps here in this World by making others to
mine iniquities and sins make me to know my transgression and my sin to know it in the Kind in the Nature in the Effects and issues of it to know it so as to be sufficiently sensible of the great Evil and Danger of it Go to God for a sight of your sins when you go about to confess them * Prov. 16.1 The preparations of the heart in man are from the Lord. So much for your Direction before Confession Give your self to Meditation in order to Confession and look up unto God for Conviction CHAP. XVI Directions given concerning some Circumstances of the very Performance of this Duty 1. Concerning the Time and Season of Confession 1. Confess continually 2. Confess daily The Equity and Advantage of so doing 3. And more particularly Confess whenever you lye under any notable Conviction 4. Confess whenever you lye under any notable Affliction 5. Confess presently upon the Commission of any great sin 6. Confess presently upon the Receipt of any great Mercy 2. Concerning the Place where we should confess Let 's especially confess our sins in secret and that for a threefold Reason 1. Because private Confession is plainly necessary 2. 'T is very convenient There is a double Advantage in it 3. The most Secret is likely to be the most Sincere Confession I Shall in the second place direct you concerning some Circumstances of the very performance of this Duty And first Concerning the Time when 2. Concerning the Place where we should confess 1. Concerning the Time and Season of Confession take these Directions 1. Confess continually As the Apostle says * 1 Thes 5.17 Pray without ceasing So say I Confess without ceasing Be always in a confessing frame and temper Frequently send up Ejaculatory Confessions to the Throne of Grace Continually walk humbly with thy God under a deep sence of thy own vileness sinfulness and unworthiness 2. Confess daily This is a Debt that every day grows due to God Thou art a daily Sinner and if every day thou findest time to sin O be sure you spare time to confess your sin We daily add sin unto sin and therefore let 's daily add sorrow to sorrow and renew our Confession as we renew our Transgression Let 's pitch upon some set and stated Times for the daily solemn sisting of our selves before God and the making a faithful acknowledgment of our sins to him Under the Law there was appointed both * Exod. 20.39 a Morning and an Evening-Sacrifice every Day of which the Hebrew Doctors say The continual Sacrifice of the Morning made atonement for the iniquities that were done in the Night and the Evening Sacrifice made atonement for the iniquities that were by Day This daily double Sacrifice and Service is a good Pattern for double Devotion every Day We must acknowledge every Day the sins of that Day and we should do well daily to make a particular Confession of some of the greatest and foulest most heinous and gross sins which we know we have committed in any part of our Lives These we must confess again and again till we have gotten some Assurance of their Pardon some comfortable Evidence of God's Love and if we attain to this in some good measure yet let us confess our sins still to get further and higher degrees of it to get stronger and clearer confirmation of it as we see David does Ps 51. Yea tho' we be never so fully perswaded of the forgiveness of our sins yet let 's confess them still that so our Pardon may be continued and our Humility encreased by often remembring what we were as well as considering what we are and that the Riches of God's free Grace may be thankfully acknowledged and deservedly magnified in that he was pleas'd to remit and forgive such heinous and provoking Offences Let 's every Day pray and say This Day forgive us our Trespasses We shall reap and receive a threefold benefit and advantage by it 1. By daily Confession we shall keep our selves constantly humble and daily renew and strengthen our Obligation to continual Mortification Watchfulness and Holiness and shall by degrees even shame our selves out of our sins and follies And this will make us every day afraid to sin when we know we must go before the Judge and accuse our selves and aggravate our sin the very day the fault is done 2. The more we do now the less we shall have to do hereafter If we confess our daily sins every day of our life the less work we shall have lying upon our hands at the day of our Death And truly to be before-hand in this Duty this is one way to go quietly out of the World When Men put off all to a late and Death-Bed Confession this makes them have such an hard time of it this makes their passage troublesome then they have the Devil and a guilty Conscience to deal withal which is worse than to grapple and conflict with their Diseases then their neglect and shameful omission of former Confession will torment and terrifie them and the great uncertainty of their present Sincerity and a strong Suspicion lest the Principle of their action should only be the passion of Fear will dishearten and discourage them distract and confound them Don't make the time of thy Death the only time for thy full Confession perhaps then thou may'st not be able to speak for thy Sickness nor to think of any thing as thou shouldst do O what wilt thou do to remember thy sins then when thy Memory fails thee When we lie upon a Sick Bed when our Bodies are weak and our Memory crasie is that a fit time to go over our Life and to review the several parts of it Therefore that we may have the less to do when we shall have enough to do to struggle with Sickness that we may have nothing to do when we die but to die and comfortably to yield up our selves to God let us take this good Counsel To be punctual in daily Confession and Self-Condemnation 3. Yea to accustom our selves to daily Confession a contrite not a meer customary Confession it would be an excellent means to free us from the Fear the slavish afflicting tormenting fear of sudden Death To make all even Morning and Evening between God and our own Consciences by humble acknowledgment of all our Offences and hearty Prayer for Pardon and Grace for the sake and Merits of the Mediator this is the way to walk abroad with Comfort and Confidence every day without any fear of a sudden Stroke and hasty Arrest by the Hand of Death and to lie down in peace and sleep most quietly every Night without one anxious distracting thought where we shall awake the very next Morning whether ever any more in this or whether speedily or unexpectedly in the other World If we judge our selves in the presence of God and sue out a Pardon at the Throne of Grace and wisely make our peace with
Heaven and reconcile our selves to our Adversary day by day we shall not be afraid of appearing immediately before God's Tribunal and the Judgment-seat of Jesus Christ but shall be well prepar'd and equally provided for longer Life or present Death and the Judgment to come after Death Confess Daily That 's the second 3. And more particularly Then make an humble and hearty Confession whenever you lie under any notable Conviction Confess thy sin upon any strong and stirring Conviction of the Spirit whether in the hearing or reading of the Word or in the use of Meditation or upon Admonition or occasionally by any Providence as when you see others punished for the same sins you are guilty of When ever your Heart smites you and Conscience checks you for sin then it is a fit time to confess When David's Heart smote him after that he had numbred the People David presently said unto the Lord * 2 Sam. 24.10 I have sinned greatly in that I have done And so when Nathan clearly convinc'd David of his sin and told him plainly * 2 Sam. 12 7 13. Thou art the man then presently David said unto Nathan * I have sinned against the Lord. Confess thy sin upon any sound Conviction of the Spirit for the quenching of the Spirit is the ready way to make you sin on till you are past feeling and to provoke God to resolve that his Spirit shall strive no longer with you 4. Then make a serious and solemn Confession when ever you lie under any notable Affliction This is a special Opportunity of Confession As the Light of Conviction leads us to confess so the Voice of the Rod lessons us to confess too Thus Joseph's Brethren when they were under a strong Conviction and in a great Strait then they confess their Sin in selling their Brother Gen. 42.21 And they said we are verily guilty concerning our Brother in that we saw the anguish of his Soul when he besought us and we would not hear therefore is this Distress come upon us David thought this a fit Season to confess When the Plague lay upon his People for his Sin then he acknowledg'd it 2 Sam. 24.17 And David spake into the Lord when he saw the Angel that smote the People and said Lo I have sinned and I have done wickedly but these Sheep what have they done So David again when his bones waxed old thro' his roaring all the day long when day and night God's hand was heavy upon him and his moisture was turned into the drought of summer then says David I acknowledged my Sin unto thee and mine Iniquity have I not hid Psalm 32.3.4 5. The Children of Israel assembled themselves with fasting and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their Fathers when God's hand lay heavy upon them Nehem. 9. And so the Prodigal when he was in want and ready to perish with hunger then he said I will arise and go to my father and will say unto him Father I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son Luke 15.17 18. The time of Affliction is as proper a time for Confession as any God does then call on us aloud to set upon the Duty When our sin has found us out and we eat the fruit of our own way this is a time to glorifie and justifie God by accusing and condemning our selves and acknowledging our selves to be the only Authors and Causes of our Sin and our Sin to be the only Meritorious procuring Cause of all our Punishment Yet let 's be sure here that we make our Punishment and Affliction not the Ground and Principle but only the Occasion and Opportunity of our Confession The time of Affliction is a seasonable and an accept ble time of Confession as then God looks it so has he then a most gracious and savourable Respect to it We find God pities the penitent Sinner that falls to Confession in a day of Affliction He has promis'd * 1 Pet. 5.6 to exalt and lift up them that humble themselves under his mighty hand And that of Elihu is a great truth Job 33.27 28. He looketh upon men and if any say I have sinned and perverted that which was right and it profited me not yea it was the Cause of my sore Sickness or sad Trouble and so was not only simply unprofitable but very hurtful and prejudicial to me If any Sinner sincerely and seriously say thus to God he will deliver his Soul that is himself from going into the pit or grave and his life shall see the light A Periphrasis of †Ver. 30. Life or of Prosperity which is often in Scripture compar'd to Light which is the most beautiful delightful exhilarating chearing thing in the World God will bring the humble Confitent out of Trouble and prolong his Life He shall recover of his Sickness or escape his Danger and live longer to behold the Light of the Sun 5. Confess presently upon the Commission of any gross and great Sin For here speedy Confession will be an effectual means to keep Conscience tender and will certainly prevent that hardness which would otherwise easily be contracted O suffer not thy Sin to rest upon thee lest thou beest hard'ned thro' the deceitfulness of it Confess thy Sin as soon as ever thou hast committed it Make no delays here Mute and irrational Creatures as the Hart the Swallow as ‖ De Poenitent c. 12. Tertullian observes will timely use the Medicines and Remedies which God has provided and natural Instinct leads and prompts 'em too A Man that has swallowed down Poison is not to linger but presently to expel it And one that has great Guilt lying on him and infectious Filth cleaving to him ought to use the surest means for the sudden removal of it We may be soon undone except we use this present Remedy and shall we then refuse it Nauseabit ad antidotum qui hiavit ad venenum says Tertullian excellently What shall a Man lothe and nauseate and be sâ—ueâ—mish at the Antidote who was greedy and gapemouth'd after the Poison Don't defer or drive off the Confession of any gross Sin It cost David dear enough the mere putting of it off I was silent and roar'd says he Psalm 32.3 So dear did the very Procrastination of Confession cost David that even after he had confess'd and was pardon'd he got not suddenly such a full sence of God's loving kindness as formerly God did not presently look so pleasantly on him as he was used to He had not yet so many Smiles from God as he had before It 's a sign he wanted the Comfort he once enjoyed for he prays to God for 't even after he was pardon'd and absolv'd by Nathan Psalm 51.12 Restore unto me the Joy of thy Salvation If he had thorowly confess'd at first probably he would not have been so long without Comfort If Sin remain unconfess'd the Power of
now in Hell for the commission of these sins which I am guilty of and I had had but my just and due Desert if I had long before now been pack'd out of this World and even shut up in Hell without any Hope full of sad and black Despair and been reserv'd in Chains of Darkness among Devils and Damned Spirits unto the dreadful Judgment of the great and laâ—t Day O the continued unwearied Patience of God that has suffer'd such a wicked Wâ—â—tâ—h as I to live thus long upon the Earth That has so graciously lengthned out my space for Repentance my time of Trial and Prâ—bation O the riches of the goodn ss and forâ—earance of God who 〈◊〉 * 〈…〉 〈◊〉 hath shewn forth all Long-Sâ—â—â—ering It was surely a Miracle of the Divine Mâ—â—cy that the righteous God struck â—e noâ— Dead suddenly destroyed me not immâ—diately when I was acting and committing 〈◊〉 and such a sin that he made nâ—â— nay very last â—â—â—kness my certâ—iâ— Dâ—aâ—â— my lâ—st wilâ—ul Sin my present 〈◊〉 O that the Lord should be plâ—ased so long to Bâ—prieâ—e me and to 〈◊〉 me in a 〈◊〉 in a probability of Pardon in a high degree of probability Lord says the Sinner I am less than the least of all thy Mercies unworthy of the commonest Blessing I receive from thee unworthy even of the very Air I breath in of the very Ground I tread on of the Meat I eat of the Clothes I wear much more unworthy of the Blessed Gospel of any means of Grace and Salvation of any Hope of Life everlasting I am unworthy of any Blessing but worthy of all the Curses that are writen and repeated in thy Book O Lord I acknowledge thou may'st justly punish my Body with Pains and acute Diseases my Name with Ignominy and disgraceful Reproaches my E tate with Damages and Beggering Loâ—â—es my whole Soul with horror and vexatious anguish Thou may'st justly turn all thy Blessings into Curses all thy Mercies into Judgments all my Comforts into Crosses all my Friends into Enemies and Adversaries all my Peace into Tumult and Disquietness of Spirit thou may'st justly let my guilty Conscience loose upon me and cause the Terrors of the Almighty thy distracting Terrors to seize upon me and make even my very Life a burden to me and my self an Hell unto my self I shall here give you two Marks or Characters whereby we may be able to judge of our Self-Judging If we truly condemn our selves for our Sins then 1. We shall humbly submit to any present Punishment that the Hand of God has already laid upon any of us 2. And we shall be willing to bear any furthâ—r Punishment that God shall lay at any time upon any of us here in this World 1. If any Sinner heartily judges himself worthy of all the Punishments God has threatned and so by Law made due unto his sins then to be sure he judges himself worthy of whatever Punishments God has already actually laid upon him for his sins If thou unfeignedly pronouncest thy self worthy of 〈◊〉 the Judgments God's Justice possibly câ—n inflict on thee to all Eternity surely then thou must account and acknowledge thy self much more worthy of whatever Temporal Judgment Div ne Justice has already inflicted upon thee The truly Repentant Sinner when he 's making his Confession before God and Judging himself for his sins if at that present any Punishment and Affliction he heavy upon him he declares unto God how he fully deserves it and therefore patiently * 26 Levit. 41. accepts of the punishment of his inquity and quietly lies down under it If God has punished him in Body Estate Good Name with the loss of Friends and Relations if he be afflicted in Soul and exercis'd with Temptations Desertions the hidings of God's Face the suspension of the effects of the Divine Favor and the privation of Spiritual Comforts why for all this he murmurs not nor repines against God nor charges God foolishly but carries himself meekly towards God and in his Coâ—fession justifies God and condemns himself He cries out with the Church * 3 lam 39. Wherefore should a living man complain a man for the punishment of his sins And again with the Church * 7 Mic. 9. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinn'd against him He subscribes and gives Testimony to the Justice and Righteousness of God in his sharpest and sorest Afflictions The good Thief upon the Cross was not only condemn'd by the Judge but condemn'd himself too and justified God even while he was under Execution for his sin Dost not thou fear Gâ—d says he to his Fellow-Thief that rail'd dost not thou fear God seeing thou art in the same Condemnation and we indeed justly for we receive the due reward of our deeds 23 Luk. 40.41 The Babylonish Captivity was the heaviest Judgment that ever God had inflicted upon any People under Heaven as appears by what is said of it 1 Lament 12. Dan. 9.12 yet the Church speaking of it professes 1 Lament 18. The Lord is righteous for I have rebelled against his commandment And Nehem. 9.33 Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us for thou hast done right but we have done wickedly And Daniel confesses O Lord righteousness belongeth unto thee but unto us confusion of faces because we have sinned against thee 9 Dan. 7. And v. 14. Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil and brought it upon us for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth for we obeyed not his voice And Ezra speaking of that extream Judgment of God upon his People in the Babylonish Captivity acknowledges Thou our God â—ast punished us less than our iniquities deserve 9 Ezra 13. And 3 Lam. 22. It is says the Church of the Lord's mercies that we are not consum'd not consumed utterly from being a People because his compassions fail not The humble Confitent rather admires Divine Indulgence than quarrels at Divine Justice in the most grievous Afflictions that befal him as being deeply conscious of his 〈◊〉 â—emerit That 's the first Mark Self-Câ—â—demnation is ever accompanied with an humble submission to any present punishment 2. It is likewise join'd with a Pious Resolution further to bear whatsoever God shall hereafter be pleased in his Wisdom and Justice and Goodness to lay upon us in this life He that truly professes himself worthy of all the intolerable eternal Punishments which are legally due unto his sins this Man is rightly dispos'd and prepar'd humbly to accept whatever momentany temporal Chastisements the Lord shall further think fit in Faithfulness to correct him with here in this World Thus do the Children of Israel confess 10 Judg. 15. We have sinn'd do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee And Eli It is the Lord let him do what sâ—â—meth him good 1 Sam. 3.18 In condemning of our selves we must all be like-minded as