cas'd and releas'd from Punishment Intreat the Lord says he to Moses and Aaron Intreat the Lord for it is enough that there be no more mighty thundrings and hail and I will let you go 9 Exod. 28. And chap. 10. v. 17. Intreat the Lord your God that he may take away from me this death only He does not at all pray for the Love and Favor and Acceptance of God nor for a new and soft and tender Heart but would be well content which is the Sum of his wishes and the height of his desires with an handsom cleanly riddance or a fair abatement of his Punishment In like manner was Saul affected in his Confession he was not sensible enough of his Sin but he utterly abhorr'd his Punishment he was asham'd and sorry at his Heart for it therefore it was only the removing of his Shame and Punishment and the conferring of Honour upon him which he so passionately sued and begg'd for when he heard by Samuel that the Kingdom of Israel was rent from him and given by God to a Neighbor of his that was better than he Then he said I have sinned yet honour me now I pray thee before the Elders of my people and before Israel 1 Sam. 15.28 30. Honour from the People was aâ— he sought after and the loss of it all he was asham'd of or troubled at But the proper and genuine Affections of true Confession are ever more conversant about the Sin than the Punishment therefore he that confesses aright is fully of this mind that he cares not what outward temporal affliction he indures so that he might have the guilt of his sin as to Eternal Punishment remov'd and the Pardon of it Seal'd Let thy hand be against me and against my father's house says David but O take away the iniquity of thy servant 2 Sam. 24.10 17 verses compared together It was his Trespass his Iniquity he would so fain have taken away The true Confessor cries not out so much with Pharaoh take away this Plague as with David take away this trespass he does not bear about him the affections of a Slave his hatred is not chiefly of the Red his shame and grief is not so much for the Whip and Scourge but he carries and maintains the affections of a Son he is sorely troubled for offending and provoking so kind and loving a Father He lothes and abhors his Sin more than his Punishment He 's asham'd and griev'd because he has deserved punishment more than because he barely suffers the punishment because he is stain'd more than because he is pain'd because his sin has made him unholy more than because it has made him unhappy because he has run out of the way of the Law more than because he has run upon the penalty of the Law because he has dishonour'd God more than because he has hurt himself And here you may further observe concerning these holy Confessional Affections that our hatred of shame and sorrow for our sins must bear and hold some Proportion to the sins confess'd A greater a grosser sin must in its Confession carry along with it a more intense affection and be accompanied with a more vehement hatred a greater shame a deeper grief It is not indeed definable just what degree of hatred shame and sorrow ought to be apportion'd out to every sin but note here in the general that these Affections are then most allowable and approvable for their dâ—gree and measure when they shall have amounted to or gone beyond eâ—uâ—â—'d or exceeded that Love Joy Pleasure Delight aâ—d Complacency which heretofore we took in aâ—ting perpetrating and committing the sin and wickedness we confess In our Confessions we should be like affected towards our sin as Amnon was towards his Sister Tamar after he had had his Pleasure of her who is said to have hated her exceedingly or with great hatred greatly so that the Hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the Love wherewith he had loved her 2 Sam. 13.15 Even so should the Sinner hate his sin more than ever he dâ—ed on it or was enamour'd with it he should be ashamed of it mere than ever he gloried in it and sorry for it as much or mere than ever he was glad of it When the Heart is thus truly affected in Confession as we have shewn it should be it does often outwardly express and vent its inward Affection by (a) If poor Soul then hast no tears wâ—â—â— thou hast â—â— faâ—â—rs â— tears The huh 〈…〉 Hâ— rhâ—reâ— Poâ— Sâ—â—â—â— p. 1. Weeping and shedding of Tears The Penitent Sinner ev'n cries again out of exceeding Shame and piercing Grief in Confession by his Tears acknowledging that his blood was due Weeping with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing do very much become and commend a true penitent Confession In our Confessons we do well to be afflicted and mourn and weep In so doing we do but imitate the Saints of God You read it of Ezra Ezra 10.1 When Ezra had prayed and when he had confessed weeping The Penitent Sinner's Eye ever affects his Heart sight of his sin breeds sence of his sin and many times his Heart affects his Eye Sence of his sin puts him upon Weeping for his sin He sometimes weeps because he can weep no more and a wiâ—hes that his Head were Waters and his Eyes 〈◊〉 of Tears that he might weep Day and Night for his sins iniquities and transgressions There 's very good reason why we should shew our Trouble by our Tears because the Eye hath constantly been the chiefest inâ—et of Sin and Vanity Sin early entred by Eve's Eye Gen. 3.6 and still it is a wide Window at which Lust and Folly are let into the Soul Fit therefore (a) â— wâ—â— will give me tâ—ars Come all ye Springs Dwâ—ll 〈…〉 â—â—ead and Eyes c. Herbert's Poems Grief p. 158. it is as a worthy * Dr. Spurstowe in his â—ormâ— oâ—â— Sam. 7.6 p. 5. Doctor well observes that in the Duties of Humiliation the Eye should bear a part with the other Members of the Body that as the Heart doth sigh the Face blush the Tongue cry the Hand knock the Breast the Lips tremble and the Knees bend so the Eye should mourn and weep it having exceeded in guilt any other Part and Member of the Body (a) What and if I weep for my 〈◊〉 Will you not then give me leave to conclude my Heart right with Godâ—ved at enmity with sin It may be so But there are 〈◊〉 Friends that weep at pâ—tiâ—g and is not thy weeping a sorrow of Affection It is a sad thing in pâ—t with our long Companion Or it may 〈◊〉 thou weepest because thou wouldst have a sign to cozen thy 〈◊〉 withal for some Men are mâ—re to have a sign than the 〈◊〉 signified thâ—y would do something to shâ—â—â— their Repeâ—tance â— that themselves may believe themsâ—lves to be Peritents haviâ—g no reason from within to
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
Paul's cleansing from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit 2 Cor. 7.1 It is a purgation from all moral impurity Further by cleansing you are not only to understand the working out of Sin but the giving in of Grace too God will not only free you from pollution and defilement natural and contracted but he will also inwardly beautifie and adorn you he will not only sweep the dirt out of the House but he will also richly furnish it The Father of the returning Prodigal did not only cause his Son's Rags to be taken off Luke 15.22 but commanded his Servants to bring forth the best Robe and to put it on him and to put a Ring on his Hand and Shoes on his Feet If you return and confess your Faults to your heavenly Father he 'll cause you to put off the old Man which is corrupt according to the deceitful Lusts and presently to put on the new Man which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness You shall be comely through his comeliness put upon you He will stamp his own Image impress his own Likeness upon you He 'll give you a real Resemblance of himself in his Attributes in his Affections He 'll make you loving patient merciful faithful as he himself is and cause you to love what he himself loves to hate what he hates to delight in what he delights He will effect and work in you all possible amiable Correspondencies to the Divine Perfections He 'll make you conformable to his most pure and holy Nature which is our great Exemplar and perfect Pattern of Spiritual Purity and to his holy and good Law which is not only the Rule but the very * The filthiness of Sin is a privation of the beauty which the Image of God brought into the Soul with it A deformity to the Holiness and Brightness of the Law The Law was both Holy and Good not only the Rule but the Beauty of our Life and Nature so that as evil is a declination and swerving from the Law as a Rule so it is sin and as it is a swerving from the Law as our Beauty so it is the stain and pollution of the Soul Bp. Reynolds of the Sinfulness of Sin p. 171. fol. Beauty of our Life and Nature The cleansing here it is the changing of the whole Man from Sin to Grace from vicious Habits to holy Customs and vertuous Dispositions it denotes not only a lessening of the habits of Sin but a causing a positive growth in Grace and Righteousness Now this God will work for him and in him that confesses aright God giveth Grace unto the humble Jam. 4.6 We read Luke 17.14 that when Christ bid the ten Lepers go shew themselves unto the Priests It came to pass that as they went they were cleansed If we have it but in our Hearts unfeignedly to confess God will presently send his Holy Spirit into our Hearts and will effectually make clean our Hearts within us he will sprinkle clean Water upon us and we shall be clean he 'll purge the Augean Stable of our impure Souls which has not been made clean for many Years together He 'll cleanse and purifie every part of us he 'll wash not our Feet only as Christ did of Peter's Body but also our Hands and our Heads and our Hearts too He 'll * 1 Thess 5.23 sanctifie us wholly and preserve our whole Spirit and Soul and Body blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ * Eph. 5.26 27. He 'll sanctifie and cleanse us by his Word and Spirit that we may be presented glorious not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that we may be holy and without blemish If we confess our Sins to God he 'll Spiritually cleanse us cleanse us from Vnrighteousness yea more than so he 'll thorowly cleanse us cleanse us from all Vnrighteousness †Vid. Calvinum in loc Estium in Text. in v. 7. He 'll presently cleanse us from all kinds of Unrighteousness and at last he will compleatly cleanse us from every degree from all the Reliques of Unrighteousness This Consideration should powerfully induce us to confess and acknowledge our sins because then God will not only forgive but cleanse us And truly this Benefit is nothing inferior to the former but it may be some of us had rather be without it and would more prize and value the first alone I 'm afraid some of us without all respect to the Word or Promises of God would have Pardon from him without Grace and Forgiveness of sin without Purgation from sin It may be some of us are so deeply in love with our Lusts that we had rather put God's Mercy to the venture than receive and admit his Grace into our Hearts rather still keep our Guilt than not keep our Sin but know that whenever you refuse internal Grace you are cruel to your own Souls and forsake your own Mercies for Purity is the lovely resemblance the beautiful Image of God a real participation of the Divine Nature the greatest Perfection of our own Nature and a main part of our Happiness Sanctity and Holiness qualifies us for Heaven and makes us meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in light * Heb. 12.14 Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. Cleansing is as necessary to Salvation as forgiving If I wash thee not said Christ to Peter if I purifie not thy Affections which is meant and signified by my washing of thy feet thou hast no part with me thou canst receive no benefit from me Now whoever thou be'st that art thorowly convinc'd of sin and so art desirous of Purity as well as Pardon of freedom from Filth as well as from Guilt thou see'st here the ready way to obtain it is to go to God in Confession If any won't freely and fully confess God will in Judgment pronounce concerning him when shall He that is unjust let him be unjust still and he which is filthy let him be filthy still Confess and bewail thy filthiness that thou may'st be purged and cleansed from it and not suffer'd to lie and die in it * Isa 6.5 As the Prophet cried Woe is me I am undone because I am a man of unclean Lips So do thou say Wo is me I am undone because I am a Man of an unclean Heart of an unclean Life and therefore unfit to stand before a holy holy holy God unfit to see and enjoy him and draw nigh to him If thou would'st be cleans'd thou must * Levit. 13.45 cry out with the Leper in the Law Vnclean Vnclean and †Mat. 8.2 with the Leper in the Gospel too Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean thou canst heal and dry up the Fountain of leprosie in my heart thou canst prepare new Jordans of Grace beyond all the Rivers of Damascus in the World thou canst bathe and wash me in a
147 148. 9. It 's a dangerous thing for any to attempt to hide their sins from God p. 149. 10. Confession of Sin or Self-accusing and Self-judging it happily prevents or weakens all Satan's Accusations of us to God p. 152. And to our selves especially upon our Death-Beds p. 154. And surely forestalls the just Sentence and Judgment of the great Judge at the last Day p. 157. CHAP. XII The first Vse of Confutation of the Popish Doctrine of Auricular Confession p. 159 to 164. CHAP. XIII The Second of Excommunication and Reproof together p. 165. CHAP. XIV The Third of Exhortation p. 169. Three Mottves taken out of the Text 1. If we confess God will forgive us our Sins p. 170. 2. He will also cleanse us from all unrighteousness p. 179. What is meant by Cleansing p. 180. This Benefit nothing inferior to the former p. 184. 3. God's Faithfulness and Justice do stand engag'd to make good the promised Blessings to us p. 187. God condescends to confirm bis 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 p. 188. CHAP. XV. A double Direction by way of Preparation to the Duty of Confession 1. Premeditate as much as you can in order to Confession p. 195. 2. Be sure to look up unto God for Conviction p. 198. 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. Daily The Equity p. 201. and Advantage of so doing p. 203. 3. Whenever you lie under any notable Conviction p. 206. Or 4. any notable Affliction p. 207. 5. Presently upon the Commission of any great Sin p. 210. Or 6. Vpon the Receipt of any great Mercy p. 212. 2. Concerning the Place especially confess in secret 1. Because it 's necessary p. 213. 2. Convenient p. 214. 3. Most likely to be Sincere p. 217. CHAP. XVII Directions respecting our Behaviour after the Duty 1. Hâ—st thou confess'd Then bless God who has enabled thee to confess 2. Apply the Promise to thy self and make good Vse of it in time of Temptation p. 221. 3. Daily plead the Promise with God and carefully look after the Performance of it p. 222 223. 4. Hast thou confess'd and found the Benefit of it give God the Praise that is due to him p. 223. 5. Take great heed of falling into Sin after Confession p. 224. 1. Of falling wilfully into any Sin 2. Into the same particular Sins p. 225. For 1. There is great danger of it Danger 1. To the formal Confessor in four respects p. 226. to 228. 2. Danger to the Penitent Confessor 1. From Satan p. 228. 2. From our own Corruption p. 229. 2. Great Evil and Folly in it great Guilt and Danger by reason of it For 1. Falling into Sin any gross Sin after Confession does exceedingly aggravate the Sin p. 230. in three respects p. 231. 2. â— It brings along with it great Punishment both internal and external Punishments p. 233. 3. 'T will make you Self-condemn'd when God punisheth you p. 234. 4. 'T will break our present Peace and dash our Hopes of future and further Comfort 5. Thou wilt thus cut out for thy self new Work and make the Severities of a New Repentance necessary p. 235. 6. 'T will make us more unapt and unable to rise again and recover out of it 7. 'T will very much dishearten us when we would beg Pardon of our Sin and hugely discourage us when we would renew our Resolution against it p. 236. 8. 'T will make God loth ever to take your Word again p. 237. and will render him harder to Pardon you upon anew Confession p. 238. CHAP. XVIII Some Means or Helps for avoiding of Sins confess'd 1. Let such as have formerly confess'd their Sins without any true Sense of Sin now labour speedily to get a thorow Conviction of the Evil of their Sins p. 242. 2. Let such as have confess'd their Sins with a true Sense of Sin upon their Spirits observe these Rules 1. Labour to preserve in the course of thy Life the same Apprehensions thou hadst of thy Sin in any former serious Confession p. 243. 2 Consider and remember that thou art at present in Dependance upon God for Mercy and art very fair for 't 3. Be always imploring Divine Assistance and improving your own Endeavours against your Sins p. 247. CHAP. XIX A double Caution 1. While we take heed of falling into the same particular Sin we confess'd let us also beware of falling into the contrary p. 250. 2. If through strength of Corruption or violence of Temptation thou shouldst at any time fall into the same Sin again thou must not for all this run into Despair but thou must renew thy Confession as thou renewest thy Transgression This gives no License at all to sin p. 252. 253. CHAP. XX. The sixth Direction Have we confess'd our Sins to God that we might be forgiven them by God Let us then freely forgive those that have trespass'd against us upon their Confession of their faults to us and so forgive them as to testito them our pardoning of them p. 258. ERRATA PAg. 9. l. 22. read their sins p. 13. l. 17. Job 31 p. 19. l. 7. dele in p. 41. last l. dele one r p. 42. l. 26. r. of his p. 48. l. 10. many sins p. 101. l. 5. there p 108. l. 2. of the Contents an earnest p. 157. l. 8. at p. 172. l. 2. for them p. 176. l. 5. dele he p. 185. l. 12. and 13. dele when shall p. 194. l. 11. r. Per p. 196. l. 24. dita p. 209. l. 9. for it p. 211. l. 17. to do A DISCOURSE OF Confession of Sin 1 John 1. ix If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness CHAP. I. The Introduction The Division of the Words The Doctrine laid down and the Method propounded for the handling of it The Nature of Confession open'd or a Description of it given containing the Acts or Parts and the Adjuncts or Properties of Confession THe Apostle having shewn in the Verse foregoing that no Man living is without Sin he presently propounds a general Remedy of this Malady declaring Confession and acknowledgment of Sin to be a means of obtaining Remission of Sin and Sanctification at the hands of God If we confess our sins c. In the Words themselves there 's no Knot to be untied no Difficulty to be resolv'd they are very plain and easie and intelligible enough to any one that will but understand them Take but those Words Faithful and Just in the same sence with reference and relation to the Divine Promise and the whole Verse doth need no more Explication it wants no other Explanation at all Only let me
himself a Sinner He accuses not God neither does he accuse the Devil or Vngodly Men for his sins Most Men think the Devil 's back broad enough to bear theirs and therefore they ease and disburden themselves and heavily load him by shifting off all their sins to him and laying all of them upon his Shoulders as if Satan hadn't only the Subtilty and Cunning of perswading but the power of forcing and compelling How many are there that think they are quite freed and wholly discharged so soon as they have charged Satan and accused Wicked Men That make account they have little or nothing to answer for because Satan tempted them because Wicked Men entic'd and importun'd them because bad Company and evil Counsel drew them away That look upon themselves as clear when once they have alienated and transferr'd their fault when they have turn'd off their sins to some one else and devolv'd them upon another You find Aaron had too well learn'd this kind of Translation who being justly challeng'd by Moses for making the Golden Calf and sharply reprov'd by him for his sin presently lays all the blame upon the People as if he should have gone Scot-free because they put him upon 't See this in the 32 Exod. 21 22 23 v. Do but mind what Aaron says here and you 'll see it 's a meer shift indeed Thou knowest says he the people that they are set on mischieft for they said unto me make us Gods They said unto me should he dare to do what they bad him But they were set on 't says he why this rather makes against him for the more the People were set on mischief the more it behov'd him to withstand and oppose it and probably had he zealously set himself against it the Golden Calf had never been made had he but roundly took them up and soundly chid them sor't it 's likely he might have prevented the Mischief However had he but done his Duty had he been so far from consenting to 't as openly and publickly to have declared and manifested his abhorring and detestation of the Fact he had'nt then involv'd himself in the guilt of so soul a sin Yet hadn't a free ingenuous Confession a great deal better become Aaron after he had sinn'd than so absurd and dull a put-off so poor and silly a shift so idle and frivolous and which is worst of all so sinful an Excuse Saul too had the same Excuse ready at 's fingers ends when Samuel came to him and charg'd him with sparing the best of the Spoil which he had taken from the Amalekites when as God had expresly commanded him to slay all 1 Sam. 15. why straight he excuses himself by accusing of others v. 15. They says he have brought them from the Amalekites for the people spared the best of the Sheep and of the Oxen to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God and the rest we have utterly destroyed Mark here when he speaks of what was done according to the will of God then he puts himself in the rest we have utterly destroyed but when he speaks of what was done against God's command there he leaves himself out he would seem to have had nothing to do in 't he quite shuffles it off from himself and fastens it all on the People They the people spared the best of the sheep And he thought he had now fairly rid his hands of his sin So that when Samuel again urg'd him Wherefore hast thou not obey'd the voice of the Lord v. 19. Instead of an humble Confession of his sin he still defended and justified himself until by Samuel's second reply a forced acknowledgment was wrung and extorted from him Thus naturally apt are the Sons of Men not only to sin with their first Parents but with them likewise to excuse their sin and to find another to cast the fault upon besides themselves Read but the Story of Adam and Eve's first transgression and you shall see where they learn'd it The Woman says Adam to God when he had eaten of the forbidden fruit the Woman that thou gavest to be with me she gave me and I did eat She gave me He confidently blames Eve for his own sin nay he obliquely charges and impudently calumniates even God himself The Woman that thou gavest to be with me she gave me Look you here how unworthily he asperses God as if God himself had really had an hand in his sin And Eve too she smoothly and handsomly as she thought puts it off to the Devil The Serpent the Serpent beguiled me and I did eat Gen. 3. but never a word of Self-Accusation fell from either of them Too too many in the World have imitated and taken after their first Father and Mother in this very particular have covered their transgressions with Adam to use Job's expression and hid their iniquities in their bosom Job 21.33 Have made use of some one else to be a Cloak and a Covering for their sins have ever boldly justified themselves in their hearts at least have sometimes charged God and often made the Devil not only the greatest but I may say the only Sinner in the World This imputation of our sin to Satan doubles our sin it is (a) Dr. H d in his Serm. of the Bl. influence of Christ's Ressurection as a learned Divine expresses it a bearing false witness against the Devil himself a robbing him of his great fundamental Title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Calumniator and a proving those that thus charge him the greatest Devils of the twain But truly tho' Men do the Devil great wrong in it yet he thinks not much at it they never pleasure him more than in so doing he cares not how much the Sinner lays upon him so he lay but little or nothing upon himself he knows God will one day lay it heavy enough upon him The Devil perceives very well what great and singular advantages he has gotten of those Men whom he has induc'd to take up and entertain this fond Conceit whom he has fully possess'd and inveigl'd with this strange yet pleasing Misapprehension that he is chiefly guilty of their sins for by this means he cunningly and slily keeps them off from a found and thorow Repentance and a free and full and humble acknowledgment of their sins to God If any such confess at all I dare say that which is really and indeed their sin is seldom the subject matter of their Confession for you shall have them in their Confessions complain chiefly of their liableness and exposedness unto and of the strength violence prevalency and irresistableness of their Temptations more of this than of the power and height of their inherent in-dwelling Lusts and Corruptions They 'll it may be pretend to be greatly desirous of a speedy deliverance from their Temptations when as yet they are utterly careless of being freed from the baseness and falseness of their own Hearts but were such wholly exempted
from the Temptations of the Devil or any else yet they have that within their own Breasts would quickly hurry them on to sin without a Tempter This alas they don't lament they 'll bewail before God how they 're subject unto and compass'd about with divers temptations which even Christ himself was who yet was without sin If any will call this lying fair for temptation an Infelicity yet who can say it is a Sin Thus in effect and if we search it to the bottom we shall find it to be so they sondly and foolishly Charge even God himself with their sins who suffers them to be tempted and accuse the Devil that tempts them much rather than themselves But now the truly penitent Confessor he lays not his sin upon other Men he lays it not upon Satan but wholly upon himself It s said that Satan provoked David to number the People and yet you find David's heart smote himself sor't which was a tacit Confession of the sin and shewed that he was far enough from Charging Satan with 't his Heart 's smiting him was a secret and silent acknowledgment that it was the Lust the Pride of his own Heart that let in and gave entrance and admission to Satan's Temptation See the 1 Chron. 21. 1. v. you read there how Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David to number Israel but David tho' probably he might be sensible of his temptation yet he makes not the Devil to bear the burden of his sin he doesn't so much as mention or nominate the temptation to make his sin seem the less odious to God or heinous to himself no he plainly confessâ—s this sin he expresly owns it and derives all the guilt of it on himself in the 8 v. of this 21 of the 1 Chron. and in the 10 v. of the 24 of the 2 Sam. where you have the same Story set down and recorded It 's said there that David's heart smote him after that he had numbred the people and David said unto God I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing but now I beseech thee O Lord do away the iniquity of thy servant for I have done very foolishly And again in the 17 of the 21 c. of the Chron And David said unto God Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbred Even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed He seems here as it were wholly to quit the Devil and to lay the Action only against himself The Penitent Sinner in his Confession is loth to set any thing at all but abhors to set too much on the Devil's Score or on bad Men's he rather frees them and takes all to himself He says not by way of excuse or exoneration of himself I was tempted by Satan seduced by evil Men and who can be too hard for such subtile Enemies who can withstand such strong solicitations Ah Lord Satan that Arch-Enemy of Mankind or such and such insinuating bad Company have undone me no but he easily resolves his sins into no other Original than his own Lusts Lord says he my destruction is wholly from my self even I my self who am my own Grand Enemy have utterly undone my self I was assaulted by many Enemies but it was one only that overcame me my own Flesh The Fort of my Soul was storm'd indeed but there was a close Enemy within that yielded it up and betrayed it it had never been taken else I might have attended to the Divine Monitions when I chose rather to hearken to the Devil's suggestions I must confess I have not shunn'd occasions of evil I have run unwarily into temptation when I have been tempted I have not striven against the temptation when I have been assaulted I have not with the ravished Virgin under the Law so much as cried out that I might be innocent I must acknowledge I might have call'd to Heaven for help I might have resisted temptations to sin 't was my own fault to swallow the Bait that was set before me I was tempted indeed but it was to that which I was of my self naturally addicted and inclinable unto and ready to run into without a temptation Lord I was tempted but I was glad of the temptation I was tempted to that my very Soul delighted in I was tempted but how readily did I clâ—se with and give way to the temptation How presently did I join and comply with the Devil (b) Videre â—â—arres 〈…〉 non virâ—it nisi vâ—â—◠〈◊〉 Bernard whom had I resisted he would have flown from me I was tempted by Satan but * 4 Jam. 7. 1 Jam. 14. enticed by my own deceitful Heart and drawn away of my own ungovernable and unruly Luâ—â—s and Corruptions My secret â—ust was the Satan within me the Fâ—ve in my Bosom that has tâ—mpted and undone me The proneness and propeâ—sity to Evil which I bear about wâ—th me and carry in within me more occasion'd my sinning against thee than did the temptations of the Devil or the sedâ—ctions of wicked and ungodly Men. Thus he accuses himself so as that he accures â—o one eâ—se even so as that he lâ—ves himself quite without excusâ— reserving nothing at all to say for himself notâ—â—ing all to plead in his own behâ—lf nothing to mitigate alleviate and exteaâ—are his sin and trespass Thus mâ—chasâ—r the first thig namely the â—umitation or resâ—ri tion of the Objâ—ct in Conseâ—â—tional Self Aâ—cusation The inner châ—â—â—s 〈◊〉 with his sins himself 〈◊〉 CHAP. III. Of the Manner of Self-Accusation and 1. of particularizing of Sin He that confesses aright accuseth himself of particular sins and especially chargeth himself with his particular sin He acknowledgeth unknown sins in a general and implicit Confesion THE other thing we propounded to speak of touching Self-Accusation was the Manner of it which I told you was double and that it was made 1. by Particularizing 2. by Aggravating of those sins which we know we stand guilty of before God 1. He that confesses aright charges himself with his sins as particularly as he can Confession of sin made in general terms only either through a Man's ignorance or gross forgetfulness of his sins or with an intention to hide and conceal them such a general Confession is a sinful Confession indeed The sincere Confessor contents not himself with meer Generals but descends to Particulars And truly should he not do this he would even do just nothing Pray do but a little examine a General Confession search it a while but to the bottom and see but thorowly what is in 't once and then make the best you can of it you 'll be forc'd to tell me it 's a very poor empty formal thing such as perhaps some carnal hypocrite may put off his Conscience for a time with but yet such as an infinitely offended provoked God will never be put off with I 'll briefly shew you the vanity of it Suppose a Man to use no other than
a General Confession tho' this Man grow every day worse and worse tho' he never comes into God's presence but he brings the guilt of new sins along with him yet this Man's Confession is always the same tho' his sins be not the same tho' his sins be many more than they were and his guilt far greater and heavier than ever The Man acknowledges himself in nothing worse now than he was many Years since he puts nothing in his Confession now but what he put in it then tho' he daily adds sin unto sin yet he never adds any thing to hâ—s Confession he never makes himself in one Confession v ltr than he made himself in a former Confession In truth he never makes himself in in any Confession worse than the very best are he never says any more against himselâ— than may be well said against any one else he ever confesses so as that the holiest Man on Earth may take up hâ—s Confession yea and add so it Now is this to conâ—ess aright Is this Maâ—'s Confession on 〈◊〉 oâ— true Sâ—sf-Alaseâ—â—â—t and thorow Hâ—mâ—â—ation Surely no. It is our instancing and particularizing which truly â—â—ses and duly humbles us in our Confesions Particulars indeed they â—peak us a gâ—eat deal worse now than it may be heretofore we have been Particulars speak us the very worst or Men the chiefest of Sinners Particularizing plainly lays open the vilenes and sinfulness the silthinâ—ss and wickedness of our Hearts and Loveâ— â—eer Generals can do nothing of all this which yet you mâ—st ackâ—owledge necessary to be done and therefore he that stays in Generals and never comes to Particulars in his Confessâ—on had as good never go about to confess Now this particularizing of Sin tho' it may have been wilfully much balked by Hypocrites yet it has ever obtained among the Saints it has always been us'd and practis'd by the People of God You find the People of Israel particularizing 1 Sam. 12.19 We have added unto all our sins say they this evil to ask us a King Ezra he confesses unto God that particular sin of the People of Israel in not separating themselves from but joining in affinity with the People of the Lands Ezra 9. David too he makes Confession of particular sins in one Confession he acknowledgeth that particular sin of his in Numbring the People 1 Chro. 21.8 and David said unto God I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing to wit Numbred Israel In another Confession you have him acknowledging other particular sins to wit his Murder and Adultery I acknowledge my transgressions says he and my sin is ever before me Psal 51.3 It was behind me when Nathan came to me he set it before me and ever since I have kept it before me And v. 4. Against thee thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight And v. 14. Deliver me says he from blood-guiltiness O God And you know 't was the course St. Paul took that sincere Convert and humble Confitent who as he was prone upon all occasions to acknowledge the sins of his former and past life so to confess and acknowledge them very particularly That 's a notable place 1 Tim. 1.13 speaking of himself there Who was before says he a blasphemer a persecutor and injurious He does not say who was before a Sinner only no but who was before a Blasphemer a Persecutor and Injurious Making mention of his old vain Conversation he brings in the severals exactly and punctually sets down particulars Even thus every Self-Accusing Sinner Articles against himself and sets his sins in order before his God He calls not himself a grievous Sinner or a miserable wicked Wretch only in the general as far as he knows any thing of himself he alledges against himself and Charges himself with particular sins He acknowledges not his sins only in the Gross he does not only generally confess how that he has broken and violated all God's holy Laws and Commands both in Thought in Word and in Deed either by doing what was prohibited or leaving undone what was injoin'd no he confesses his loose and vain Thoughts particularly As to instance his Atheistical Thoughts his Distrustful Thoughts his Lustful Thoughts his Envious Thoughts his Malicious Thoughts his Revengeful Thoughts his Ambitious Thoughts his Covetous Thoughts and such like Further He confesses particularly as his bad thoughts so his want of good thoughts his not exercising himself in Self Examination his not giving himself to holy and pious Meditation And here more particularly his not meditating on God in Christ his not meditating on the Scriptures his not meditating on Sermons his not meditating on Providences his not meditating on his latter End and the like He confesses his evil Thoughts in particular and his evil Words too as his rash Judging and Censuring his Swearing Lying taking God's Name in vain this and that particular idle Word which he has used accustomed and habituated himself unto this and that rotten and unsavory Speech this and that frothy and unprofitable Discourse He confesses particularly not only his speaking what he should not do but his not speaking what he should do his not speaking to God in Prayer his frequent omissions of Prayerly himself in private of Prayer and Catechâ—â—ng in his Family his disuse of Holy Conferencâ— and Christian Communion his neglect of Brotherly Reproof and Fraternal Correction In like manner he particularizes hâ—s evil Deeds and wicked Works but I 'll stand instancing no longâ—r Remember that he that confesses aright accuses himself of particular sins And further take notice That he that truly confesses charges himself as with particular sins so to be sure with his particular sin I say let me add this further That he that truly confesses as he makes a Catalogue of particular sins so to be sure he puts into the Catalogue his very particular sin that sin of his which among all the rest he nay most properly and truly call his own that peccatum in deliciis that sin he has so indulg'd and cocker'd that very sin which above all others he has a long time most pleas'd himself with and allowed himself in And truly herein lies a great and main difference between the humble sincere and the formal hypocritical Confessor The formal hypocritical Confessor he 'll willingly confess sin in the general he cares not much if he calls himself Sinner before God Nay it may be he 'll not stick to repeat and run over some common Heads to reckon up to God a few sorts and kinds of sins as his Original his Actual sins his sins against God his sins against his Neighbor his sins of Omission his sins of Commission which is but a general Confession yet The reason that he can so easily bring himself to that is because Generalia non pungunt Generals don't touch to the quick don't wound prick and gall him don't come close and home to him don't so nearly concern him
and therefore thus he can confess over and over with very little or no trouble and disturbance to himself at all thus he can confess his sins yet keep his sin If ever the hollow-hearted Confessor come so far as to particularize sins at all likely he takes some sly course he goes some By-way to Work He 'll often instance in some particular sins which the Godly themselves daily complain of which the dearest of God's People cannot but own and acknowledge As thus He 'll it may be confess unto God the weakness of his Faith his want of growth in Grace which may be an Article in the best Christian 's Self-Accusation but here is this deceit in 't That he that has'nt one Dram of Faith one Spark of Grace in him would yet seem to have and supposes in himself some lower weaker actings at least of saving justifying Faith some smaller degree and measure of true real sanctifying Grace Whatever the Hypocrite puts in commonly he on purpose leaves out of the Charge his near and dear tho' never so gross and heinous sin this he 'll not be known of he 'll not disclose he 'll not out with this for this he resolves with himself never to part with he has no mind to leave it and therefore he has no heart to confess it He declines and waves all hard words of his own sin whatever he says he 'll not have a word of his secret Atheism and Profaneness of Heart of his close Hypocrisie and Formality of his wilful Impenitency and Unbelief of his false Hopes and ungrounded Presumption He forbears the mentioning of his Spiritual Pride of his Carnal Confidence and resting in Duties of his Self-love of his Worldly-mindedness This guileful subtil Semi-confitent purposely and industriously keeps in that very sin which among these or other particular sins is his most proper and peculiar sin he 's mute and silent here he scarce ever comes nigh that main sin which divides and separates between God and his Soul and keeps off his Heart from entirely closing with Jesus Christ His talk I think I miscal not his Confession his talk I say is usually far enough from that Thus Lapwing-like he raises his Note highest and makes the greatest noise furthest off his own Nest But now on the other side the truly humble broken penitent Sinner he 's of an honest ingenuous guileless spirit in accusing of himself he deals most freely and openly with his God he hides and covers nothing from him he plainly lays open to God his very darling bosom sin and readily discovers his most inward and retir'd Lust He is so far from concealing this in his Confession that of all others he is most careful to detect it and makes it his business to insist oftenest and largeliest on it And certainly he that does thus confesses aright for he that charges himself particularly with his most beloved secret and hidden sin is no question in a constant readiness to charge himself with all to charge himself with every one And thus much for the first way of Self-Accusation in Confession to wit Particularizing of our sins I shall pass to the second so soon as I have entreated you to take notice but of one Clause in this First Part of the Definition of Self-Accusation I told you that Self-Accusation is the Sinner's charging himself as particularly as may be with his sins as particularly as may be as particularly as he can which was purposely inserted to hint thus much unto you That we are bound to confess many sins which yet we are no way able to particularize such are all ignorances and unknown sins Indeed we ought to make a particular acknowledgment of our sins as far as our knowledge of them reaches but yet when we have confessed all we know against our selves we are not yet come to a non ultra in â—onfession we must not here make a stop we must not here break off and give over Confessing we must find more to say aginst our selves than we know particulary and distinâ—tly by our selves Tho' we know much by our selves yet certainly there 's much we don't know by our selves but God is greater than our hearts and kâ—â—weâ—h all things 1 Joh. 3.20 he sees many a sin in us that we dâ—n't sâ—e in our sâ—lves Now our unknâ—wn sins our sins of ignorance tho' they be unknown to us tho' we are ignorant of them yet because they are in themselves real breacâ—es of God's Law and so truly sins against God therefore they ought to be conâ—ess'd to him But how you 'll â—â—y 〈◊〉 can we confess such sins as we d n't 〈◊〉 Why yes tho' we caâ—◠〈…〉 and reckon them up in particulâ—r yet we may and must and it sâ—â—â—â— iâ— we do wrap them up altogether in a 〈◊〉 and impliâ—â—â— Confession and crave pâ—rdon for them by the lump David wâ— careful to do thus Is 19.12 Who says he can understand his errors Lord cleanse thou me from my secret faults Let me add That a general Confession is necessary not only in respect of our unknown sins but also in respect of unknown circumstances even of our known sins for possibly even when the sin is plain and manifest yet some circumstance or other which aggravates the sin may be occult and secret CHAP. IV. Of the second way of Self-Accusation namely as it is made by Aggravation of sin The great Necessity of Aggravation of sin Our Confession cannot be full and compleat without it There can be no thorow humiliation without it Several Heads of Aggravation propounded Among many others one notable way of Aggravation commended which is To take those very thing which are too commonly made Excuses and Pleas for sin and to turn them into so many Aggravations How to Aggravate our sins from the littleness of them from the commonness of them from our ignorance in sinning from temptations to sin and from our sinful Nature A notable instance of Aggravation of sin shewn in St. Austin I Come now to the second way of Self-Accusation namely as it is made by Aggravation of sin The Sinner charges himself with his sins by heightning and aggravating them with their most heinous and notorious circumstances And indeed the aggravating circumstances of our sins must not by any means be neglected in our Confessions for then we should make Confession but by the halfs with the Unjust Steward in the Gospel we should set down but fifty for an hundred Nay we should often leave out of our Confessions more than we put into them we should ev'n set down but Pence for Pounds but Mites for Talents For tho' in Natural things accidents are nothing in comparison of the form yet it 's a true Rule that in moralibus circumstantia plus valet quam forma in Moral things the Circumstance is often more than the meer Action it self Thus it is in the case of sin the aggravating Circumstances of our sins often rise and amount to
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
even pâ—sed and nonplus'd all thy Methods of Cure whatever course thou hast taken with me has been unsuccessful whatever thou hast applied to me has not effectually wrought upon me all the Means thou hast used with me have done me little good Lectures Warnings Chidings Blows have not reclaim'd me vehement joggings and shakings have not rous'd and awaken'd me out of my Lethargical senceless Condition I have refus'd to hearken unto thy voice which came with a Thunder-clap along with it as well as stopp'd my Ears against thy Still-voice Thou hast taken all probable ways with me to little purpose thy Discipline as well as Doctrine thy Rod as well as thy Word thy Threatnings as well as thy Promises thy Corrections as well as Instructions thy Corrosives as well as thy Lenitives thy Causticks as well as thy Oil thy Judgments as well as thy Mercies thy Severities as well as Indulgences have been so much Cost and Pains utterly lost and thrown away upon me I have not only taken some easie gentle Physick but I have been Blister'd Cupp'd and Scarrify'd I have been plied with whatever might be for my good and yet O thou â—â—â—sician of Souls even the last Remedy which thou usest to prescribe has not taken place with me my Corruptions still remain strong in me my Disease is yet very high and often returns violently upon me O! this consideration of having sinn'd against mixed Mercies must needs mightily humble a Sinner in his Confessions who can chuse but lie low before God if he be truly sensible of this heinous Aggravation of his sins 3. The Penitent Sinner aggravates his sins not only from his abusing of those Means which God has us'd to restore and recover him but also from his frustrating and making inessectual those Means which he himself has sometimes used with himself for the correcting and amending of himself from his sinning against the many Ties Engagements and Obligations which not only God but he himself has several times laid upon himself to the contrary from his sinning against his very Confessions of Sins against his own Sacramental Sick-Bed Occasional Vows Covenants Promises and Resolutions against his sins And this is an high Aggravation taken from the greatest Folly and Madness that possibly a Man can be guilty of That notwithstanding I have sometime said of my sin that it was a very evil and a very bitter thing and acknowledged so much in the very presence of God and there resolv'd against it yet after all this I should really love like and chuse that which not long before I profess'd I hated loath'd detested and solemnly condemn'd my former Choice of The serious due application of this Consideration will very much conduce to the Sinner's sound Humiliation 4. Among other aggravations of sin you 'll find it to be none of the least which may be taken from our former excusing and pleading for our sins Thou may'st well aggravate thy sins from thy having excus'd thy sins Say Lord I wilfully committed this and that sin and studied to lessen and lighten it when I had done I did very â—ll in sinning but I did far worse in colouring my sin Let us aggravate our sins from our having excus'd them and from the vanity and sinfulness of our Pleas and Excuses For instance Hast thou excus'd thy sin by saying it was a little one and a small matter Hast thou thus excus'd thy petty Oaths thy officious or merry Lies thy wanton and lascivious Discourses Why now make this an aggravation of thy sins that thou hast thus wretchedly excus'd them Say Lord I have done thus and thus and said It was a little one a petty one as if any sin were little and small which is committed against so great a God such an infinite Majesty I have said It is a little one as if any sin were little which is the breach of a most holy and just and good Law I have said It is a little one as if any sin could be accounted little for which the righteous God will certainly call me to a strict Account at the dreadful Day of Judgment I have said It is a little one as if any sin were little which brings along with it so great a danger as if the guilt of the least sin were not far greater than I or any Man can bear were not enough for ever to sink me deep into Hell I have said It is a little one as if any sin were little the guilt whereof can only be done away by the precious Blood of Christ the only Son of God But 5. Methinks there is one notable way of Aggravation yet behind which I have often thought of with my self and cannot but commend unto you I shall speak somewhat largely to it it 's this To take up those very things with which Men ordinarily extenuate their sins and with which it may be we our selves have formerly extenuated our sins and in our Confessions to make those same things serve instead of lessening and diminishing our sins directly to aggravate and exaggerate them Let 's pitch upon those very things with which Men usually qualifie their sins and with which it may be we our selves have formerly qualified alleviated and lightned our sins and let 's improve them and make use of them in our Confessions for the heightning and greatning and amplifying of our sins Let 's chuse out those very Arguments with which Men commonly plead for themselves and with which it may be we our selves have sometimes pleaded for our selves and so let us manage them in our Confessions as that instead of making for us they may flatly and plainly make against us Do Carnal Men customarily make the littleness of their sins the commonness of their sins their ignorance in sinning their temptations to sin their sinful Nature to be so many Excuses of their sins And hast thou thy self sometime taken up and oft been glad of these Excuses Why now in thy Confessions turn these Exeuses I mean those very things which are the Matter of them into so many Aggravations 1. Is' t ordinary for Men to make nothing of their sins because they are but little ones Nay hast thou thy self said of thy sin as Lot did of his Zoar It is a little one Is it not a little one and thus extenuated thy sin Why rather aggravate thy sin even from hence in that it was a little one Say Lord It was comparatively but a little one and yet so unkind was I to a kind God that I would not do a small matter for thee Lord I would not sorbear this little sin O how loth should I be to forgo and part with a greater You see how the smallness and littleness of a sin does sometimes greaten and aggrandize it Further 2. Is the Commonness of a sin frequently pleaded for the sin And hast thou thy self at any time said of thy sins they are but Common ones and thought they were passable for this Excuse
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
hiding or concealing any of his Sins This Man resolves to confess all that he may be forgiven all to cover none that none may be uncover'd I have now done with the last Property of Confession True Confession is made with an earnest Desire of and some good Hope in Divine Mercy Yet let me leave what has been spoken with this necessary Caution Let us all be sure to take one thing with another let 's join all these Propeâ—ties of Confession in Practical Use together In Confession of our Sins let 's earnestly desire and as firmly trust in Divine Mercy for the Pardon of them all but let us know that if we would do this warrantaâ—ly and safely we must at the same time confess our faults voluntarily and freely with a perfect Hatred of them an Holy Shame and Sorrow for them and an hearty full Resolution against them otherwise we may encourage our selves if we please with fond Thoughts of an infinite Mercy and call that Faith and Hope if we will which is meerly our wild deluded Fancy but God accounts such ungrounded Confidence nothing but Impudence and Presumption and will deal with us accordingly And thus I have as fully and clearly as I could open'd and discover'd unto you the whole Nature of the Duty of Confession and explain'd at large this full Definition or Description of it viz. Confession of Sin is the Penitent Sinner's voluntary Accusing and Condemning himself to God with Hatred of Shame and Sorrow for and a full Resolution against his Sins together with an earnest Desire of and some good Hope in Divine Mercy CHAP. X. The Grounds and Reasons of Confession Two false Grounds of Cofession rejected We must never confess our sins with any intention to give God Information or to make God Satisfaction by our Confession An Objection answered I Now proceed to give you the Grounds and Reasons of Confession and to shew you how it comes to be our Duty or why it is our Duty And I shall give you the Reasons of Confession 1. Negatively then Positively 1. I shall shew you what we are to account no Reason 2. What we ought to judge a good Ground and sufficient Reason for our Confession 1. Negatively We must never confess our sins to God thereby to give God either Information of or Satisfaction for our sins 1. We must never confess our sins with any intention to give God Information by our Confession as if he were ignorant of them before we told him of them for surely the Lord knows all our sins better than our selves do and needs not our help for the discovery of any He takes strict notice of all our Thoughts Words and Actions Psal 139.1 2 3 4. O Lord says David thou hast searched me and known me thou knowest my down-sitting and my up-rising thou understandest my thoughts afar off thou compassest my path and my lying down and art acquainted with all my ways for their is not a word in my toâ—gue but 〈◊〉 O Lord thou knowest it altogether God is privy to all our secret Contrivances he knows what is done in the Chamber and Closet what we muse and meditate of upon our Beds he knows what is forg'd in the very Heart God has no need to be inform'd of our defaults to be certified by us of our miscarriages he sees the very first motions and inclinations of our Souls he beholds us in the very act of sin and he bears in Mind all our Wickednesses and lacks no body to be his Remembrancer They are indeed too frequently out of our own Memories unless he keep them in or recal them to our Minds of his free Grace and Mercy We must not therefore confess with any intention thereby to let God know and give him to understand what we have done as if otherwise he would be ignorant of every thing or any thing 2. We must never confes our sins with any intention to make God Satisfaction by our Confession The most submissive penitent Confession does not at all satisfy the Justice of God for the wrong we have done him nor merit a Pardon from him no God is infinitely merciful when he pardons sin upon Confession Confession of Sin can't in any measure satisfy for Sin For Confession of Sin becomes it self our necessary Duty presently upon the Commission of Sin but Duty is not satisfactory Again The best Confession of our sins is it self tainted and mingled with sin and needeth another Confession and therefore can deserve nothing at God's hands nor make him any Compensation Further The goodness of Confession if it were perfectly blameless and faultless were yet but a finite Good whereas the Evil of every transgression is an infinite Evil because committed against an Infinite God but a finite Good can't make God recompence and amends for an infinite Evil. Obj. If you ask why Confession of Sin has not as much good in it as the Commission of Sin has evil in it why the one does not as much honour God as the other dishonour him for when it is said Sin has an infinite Evil in it it is meant only Objectively because God against whom it is committed is an infinite God Now if Sin be called infinite because it wrongs and injures an infinite God why should not a Penitent Confession be accounted infinite since it honours and glorisies an infinite God Answ I answer Offences arise according to the Dignity of the Object because the Dignity of the Party offended is there hurt and wronged as an offence against a Nobleman or King is greater than against a private Man but Satisfaction increases according to the worth of the Subject for here the giving of Honor is look'd at which depends on the Dignity of the Person that gives it therefore it suffices to make Sin infinite that God who is the Object of it is infinite But there is not enough to be sound in any Confession to make it of an infinite worth and value because Man who is the Subject of it is but finite and therefore the most exactly and thorowly Penitent Confession because it proceeds from a finite Person is not able to make God â—atisfaction for hence it is that Christ only could effectually satisfie because he only was an infinite Person Thus I have remov'd and rejected the wrong and false Grounds of Confession We must never go about Confession with any purpose thereby to give God Information or make him Satisfaction CHAP. XI Ten positive Grounds and proper Reasons of the Duty of Confession 1. God expresly commands it 2. God is greatly glorified and justified by it 3. 'T is a thing in it self most reasonable and equitable 4. Confession of Sin is absolutely and indispensably necessary to Remission of Sin so as that God can't well pardon us without Confession How it 's unbeseeming the Majesty the Justice the Mercy the Wisdom the Holiness of God for God to pardon and forgive the Sinner before and without the Confession and
Acknowledgment of his sin 5. Confession of Sin is it self a proper act of Mortification 6. Confession testifies unto God and evidences unto our selves the sincerity and unfeignedness of our Repentance and gives us good assurance that we are in a fair way of Recovery 7. Confession eases our troubled Spirits and disburdens our oppressed Consciences 8. It were unreasonable Folly in us to go about to hide any sins from God and the wisest way to conceal them from otheâ—s is to discover them to God 9. It 's no only a foolish but an unsate and hazardous a desperate and dangerous thing for any to attempt to hide and conceal their sins from God 10 And lastly Confession of Sin or Self-accusing and Self-judging it happily prevents or weakens all Satan's Accusations and surely forestalls the just Sentence and Judgment of the great Judge at the last Day I Come now positively to lay down and propound the true and proper Grounds and Reasons of the Duty of Confession 1 Reas And the first Reason shall be taken from God's express Command I will give you but two Scriptures for it 5 Num. 6 7. The Lord spake unto Moses saying Speak unto the children of Israel when a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit to do a trespass against the Lord and that person be guilty then they shall confess their sin which they have done This was the first thing that was to be done before Restitution or the offering of his Sacrifice he must confess his Sin And Jer. 3.12 13. Go and proclaim these words towards the North and say Return thou backsliding Israel saith the Lord acknowledge thine iniquity that thou hast transgress'd against the Lord thy God That 's the first Reason God plainly commands Confession therefore we must confess * Vid. Tertul de Paenitent cap. 4. God's Soveraign Authority must be regarded and his Precept observed tho' we that did our Duty should never receive any Commodity or Advantage by it 2. Reas We must make Confession of our Sins because hereby God is glorified and justified Joshuah makes this a ground of Confession in his Speech to Achan Josh 7.19 My son says he give I pray thee glory to the Lord God of Israel and make Confession unto him And this reason David gives of his Confession Psal 51.3 4. I acknowledge my transgressions says he that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest Now true Penitent Confession does very much glorifie and justifie God for it 's our owning of God's Soveraignty and Authority our approving of his holy and just and good Law our acknowledging our own obnoxiousness to Divine Justice for the breach of that Law It is a subscribing to the great Equity of the Divine Commands and to the absolute Righteousness of the Divine Threatnings It is a clearing of the Holiness a vindication of the Justice of God It 's a freeing of God from being the Author of our Sin and a declaring of him to be righteous in being the Author of any punishment of sin It 's our meek and humble lying down at his feet and professing our selves to be wholly at his mercy It 's an act of the greatâ—st stooping yielding submission in the World It 's a Man's becoming mean low vile little nothing in his own Eyes that God may be all in all It 's our shaming and disgracing of our selves that God may be glorified and extolled Our lessening and debasing of our selves that God may be magnified and exalted Free hearty Confession faithfully provides for God's Honour and therefore is a Duty carefully to be perform'd and put in practice by us otherwise we rob God of his Honour and cut him short of his Glory 3 Reas We must confess our sins because Confession is a thing in it self most just and reasonable and equitable The very Law of Nature commands and enjoins real acknowledgment in case of real offence Confession of Sin is in strict Justice due to God who is the wronged and injur'd Party Every sin we commit is an act of the highest Injustice in the World and therefore Confession of Sin must needs be an act of the greatest Justice that possibly can be done by any Man We all of us do God very much wrong by sinning it 's therefore meet and fit for us to do God right by Confessing That 's the third Reason We must confess because Confession is an act of Equity and Justice 4 Reas We must confess because Confession of Sin is absolutely and indispensably necessary to remission of Sin so as that God can't well pardon us without Confessâ—â— Penitent Confession of Sin tho' it do not merit yet it makes fair way for forgiveness of Sin It does in the very nature of it make a Capacity and found a Possibility of Pardon It makes the Sinner vas capax a Vessel capable tho' not worthy of any Grace Whereas the Sinner's obstinate wilful hiding and covering his sins and resolved continuance in them does void and destroy the very case of Mercy Here it is rather worthy of God not to forgive but to punish and destroy Such Persons as won't acknowledge their sins are not within the Limits and Possibilities of Pardoning Grace God won't God can't forgive him that won't confess And therefore we find that when God makes the largest promises of Mercy to guilty Sinners he warily interposes Confession of Sin as a necessary Condition without which his Pardon cannot be afforded See this clearly in that notable place Jer. 3.12 13. Return thou backsliding Israel saith the Lord and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you for I am merciful saith the Lord and I will not keep anger for ever Comfortable and precious Promises indeed But mark but mark the necessary Condition of them in the very next words Only acknowledge thine iniquity that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God Only acknowledge thine iniquity as if he should say It cannot be else otherwise no hope of finding Mercy I cannot by any means pardon you unless you confess It 's unbeseeming and misbecoming the Majesty the Justice the Mercy the Wisdom the Holiness of God for God to pardon and forgive the Sinner before and without the Confession and Acknowledgment of his sin 1. It 's a thing not at at all becoming the Majesty of God God has already yielded as far as he can with safety to his Honor in condescending to such low Terms and fair Proposals as this is of giving our pardon upon our Confession He can't stoop any lower without doing prejudice to himself and being injurious to his own Honor and Greatness God is good but yet so as that he 's great too now his Greatness and Majesty which he is bound to maintain unless he could deny himself I say his Greatness and Majesty requâ—res the sinful Creatures humble submission of himself and acknowledgment of his sin before his Mercy can do him any good or shew
his sins in order before him and telling him such and such a heinous sin didst thou commit at such and such a time thus much guilt lies upon thee therefore thou art Damn'd Alas it 's too late to confess now neither art thou now able to do it nor hast thou now time to do it in Now how shall the irrepentant Sinner be able to resist this temptation to throw out this injection to repel this fiery Dart of the Devil When careless negligent Sinners are departing out of this World then they lie fairest for a Temptation and they who were secure enough before are now prone and ready to suspect their own State to join and strike in with Satan against themselves and to further the Devil's Suggestions by their own Misgivings The guileful guilty impenitent Sinner's Conscience will now fly in his own face will now second the Devil's Accusations and be as forward as he is to judge and condemn him Whereas the truly humble Penitent who has fully done the Devil's Work for him who has not only been Spontaneus Satan a Satan to himself as Satan is a subtile Tempter and so sometimes tempted and seduced himself but has likewise been Spontaneus Satan a kind of Satan to himself as Satan is an Adversary and Accuser and so has often accused and condemned himself in a free and full Confession of all his sins This Man placed upon his Death-Bed is either undisturb'd by Satan or able to contest with him Let Satan truly object never so many sins to him he grants all and is bold to tell the Devil That he won't despair in hearing that from him which he has himself confess'd in Faith to God It 's true Satan says he I have done thus and thus and I have with shame acknowledged as much and more to God I therefore fear not thy Charge because I first charg'd my self and so trust I 'm discharg'd by God In vain doest thou accuse and condemn me to my self who have already accus'd and condemn'd my self to my God and therefore hope I 'm acquitted and absolv'd by him When the Adversary is thus non-plus'd and silenc'd when Satan's Mouth is thus stopp'd and shut that he has nothing to say to the Penitent Sinner when neither his own Conscience nor the Devil accuse him then God says to him as once Christ said to the Woman charg'd with Adultery when her Accusers left her John 8.11 Where are thine Accusers has no one condemn'd thee neither do I condemn thee And adds further not Go and sin no more but Go where thou shalt sin no more 2. And this leads me to the second branch of this last Reason Confession of Sin or Self-Judging surely forestals the just Sentence and Judgment of the great Judge an the last Day By Judging our selves we do as I may say God's Work and Office for him and so save him a labour neither are we unmannerly and injurious to God by thus taking as it were his Work out of his hands this is no bold Vsurpation on our part but his own free and voluntary Concession for Judgment is his strange Work his strange Act Isa 28.21 and he had rather a great deal have it done by us upon our selves than done upon us by himself He 's very well pleas'd with our own doing of it insomuch that if we would judge our selves we should not be judged as St. Paul assures us 1 Cor. 11.31 And this is the last Reason of the Duty of Confession taken from the unspeakable happiness the sweet peace and inward Paradise of such a Man who hath no sin unconfess'd when he comes to die whereas he that won't accuse himself now gives no small advantage to Satan's Accusations of him to God and Temptations of him especially upon his Death-Bed And he that can't be brought to Judge himself now he does but Reprieve himself a while and defer the Sentence till the Grand Assizes where he shall be sure to be Accus'd Condemn'd and Executed CHAP. XII The Application of the Doctrine The first Vse by way of Confutation of the Popish Doctrine of Auricular Confession I Have fully open'd the Nature of this Duty to you and have confirm'd it by many strong and weighty Reasons and Arguments I shall now endeavour to apply it and make use of it Vse 1. By way of Confutation Popish Commentators do strain this Text to favour Auricular Confession without any colour shew or shadow of Reason for so doing For it plainly and naturally respects Confession of Sin made to God and not in the Ears of a Priest Our Church indeed advises in her seasonable and excellent Exhortation before the Communion That if any Person 's Mind be troubled and uneasie and his Conscience burden'd and unsatisfied and he cannot find ease and relief and quiet his own Conscience by any means used by himself but requireth further Comfort or Counsel he should go to his own or to some other discreet and learned Minister of God's Word and open his Grief that by the Ministry of God's Holy Word he may receive the Benefit of Absolution together with Ghostly Counsel and Advice to the quieting of his Conscience and avoiding of all Scruple and Doubtfulness But the Church of Rome binds all Men in Conscience by a Law made to make a particular special Confession to a Priest of all their mortal Sins committed after Baptism ev'n of their most secret and hidden Sins with all Circumstances that change the kind and alter the nature of the Sin as far as possibly they can call and bring them to remembrance upon due Premeditation and a diligent Examination of themselves And once every Year at the least to confess to a Priest unless it be in the case of extream necessity all such Sins and heightning Circumstances which they have been guilty of since they were last shriven They call for the particularizing of Sins and the explication and manifestation of all aggravating Circumstances that the Priest as they pretend may judge of the weight and merit of every Fault and know how to impose a condign Penance and to enjoyn a convenient and correspondent Satisfaction Tho' the Truth is the Priests have no Authority to impose what Penances they shall think fit Nor have they Ability presently and on a sudden to weigh Things so exactly and evenly as to order and appoint Penances just and equal answerable and proportionable to the Sins confess'd And it is apparent and well known how slight and trisling and ridiculous the Confessors often are in the Penances they enjoin for Sins of a very high nature And all their human Satisfactions tho' intended only for the Temporal Punishment due to Sin in Purgatory are highly injurious to the full and perfect Satisfaction of Christ This Confession of Sins to the Priest is that which the Papists speak so much of in all their Catechisms tho' God says not one word of it in all the Scriptures St. James indeed bids us confess
transgressions for I acknowledge my transgressions If the poor Sinner will but go to God in Confession as the Servants of Benhadad went with Ropes about their Necks to Ahab in behalf of their Master with such Words as these Lord thy Servant saith I pray thee let me live then Christ who is King of Kings the Lord of Life and Judge of Life and Death he presently returns the same Answer to the Sinner that Ahab did to Benhadad 1 Kings 20.32 Is he yet alive he is my Brother God the Fatherr says Is he yet alive he is my Son And Jesus Christ our Elder Brother he says Is he yet alive he is my Brother And here 's a sweet and comfortable Entertainment of a poor returning penitent Confessor If we confess God will not only reprieve us but fully pardon us he 'll not only defer Punishment but remit it wholly and quite absolve us If we remember our Sins in the presence of God God will forget them if we set them before our face before his face he 'll cast them behind his back he 'll never look upon them more so as to take Vengeance for them tho' he he cannot but by reason of his Omniscience see and discern them If we with Shame and Sorrow accuse our selves he 'll cancel the Bills of Accusation and throw the Records of Shame and Sorrow from the Court of Heaven He 'll fully dissolve our Obligation to Eternal Punishment and certainly give us a right to Impunity and eternal Life If we take with us Words and turn to the Lord he will take away all Iniquity and receive us graciously Tho' he leave our Sin in our Memory to keep us from relapsing yet he will take it out of our Conscience that our Hearts may not accuse us for it But that we may call our Sins to mind * Quid retribuam Domino quòd râ—â—olit haec memoria mea snims meavoâ— metuiâ— inde August Confes L. 2. c. 7. § 1. without being affrighted at the Consideration of them And is no the pardoning pacifying Grace and Mercy of God Argument enough to us to draw us speedily to confess We are deeply indebted to God We owe him a vast Sum not an hundred Pence but ten thousand Talents Matth. 18.24 And we can never work our selves out of Debt Our Creditor can prove every Particular of the Debt and we are wholly in his Hands and at his Mercy he has us in his Power and can take what Course he will with us Now if he cast us into Prison we shall lie there long enough and never come out again for we are never able to pay and discharge our Debt Augustus the Emperor when a certain Roman's Goods were to be sold after his Death sent to buy the Pillow on which that Person greatly indebted could in his life-time take his rest and sleep 'T is a wonder that we who are clogg'd with so many and great Spiritual Debts can sleep or eat or drink or take any ease or rest content or pleasure in the World till we have used the means to procure a Discharge from them Certainly the longer we lie in our Debts the more they will encrease upon us But how do we deserve to be arrested imprisoned and there to lie and perish to all Eternity if we won't so much as confess our Debts to have them forgiven When as God calls upon us to acknowledge our Sins and is ready to blot out as a thick Cloud our Transgressions and as a Cloud our Sins We are greatly guilty before God and if Guilt lie upon us it will surely sink us as low as Hell We are obnoxious to the Divine Justice and it 's a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the living God O let us timely confess our Sins that so we may get into God's Favour and be delivered from the Wrath to come and may escape the Damnation of Hell Let 's be like some ingenuous Children and Servants who when they have done a Fault or broken any thing they can't go about their Business quietly till they have first gone and made known their Fault and told it their Father or Master themselves and when once that is past and over then they can follow their Employments chearfully without any fear of Anger or Chiding O go and tell your God the Truth tell your Heavenly Father and Master whatever you have done amiss and he 'll be pacified towards you and then you may walk chearfully and comfortably in your Christian Vocation Let this move you to confess because then God will forgive if you impute Sin to your self God will not impute it to you And this is a happy Priviledge Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered says the penitent Prophet * Psal 32.1 2 David who had tasted and seen how good the Pardon of Sin is What Solace Comfort and Heart's Ease what a sweet refreshing Repose and Rest Day and Night has he who is upon good grounds perswaded that all his Criminal Debts are freely forgiven him all his sins remitted by God for the sake of his Surety Jesus Christ the Righteous 2 Mot. A Second Motive or Encouragement shall be taken from that other precious Priviledge here in the Text because if we confess our Sins God will not only forgive us our our Sins but will also cleanse us from all unrighteousness which cleansing is another Benefit * Vid. Calvin in loc plainly differing from that of forgiving Kings may pardon guilty Rebels and Traitors but they cannot turn or change their false and disloyal Hearts Judges may save condemn'd Malefactors from Execution but it 's quite beyond their Power to mend or alter their evil Qualities and naughty Disposition But behold the King of Kings doth always both together When ever he reconciles Men's Persons he also reconciles their Natures to himself Whom he frees from Punishment them he ever makes most faithful and obedient Whom he saves from suffering them he also preserves from sinning Whom he justifies them he sanctifies Where he takes off the guilt there he takes out the filth Whom he pardons them he purges Whose trespasses he freely forgives them he effectually cleanses from all unrighteousness Cleansing speaks motion and tendency towards Purity To cleanse us from all unrighteousness is to cleanse us from all impurity Now that is double * See Dr. Hammond's Sermon Of the Nec ssity of the Christiaâ—'s Cleansing p. 121. and his Pract. Cat. p. 95. in 4â— either of filth or of mixture as Water is impure when it is mudded and defiled and as the Wine is impure both before it 's fetcht off from the Lees or Dregs and when it is mingled with Water So the cleansing here it is the purging out of our Carnality and also the freeing of us from Hypocrisie St. John's cleansing here from all unrighteousness it is the same with St.
8.56 There has not fallen says he or fail'd one word of al his good promise which he promis'd by the hand of Moses his servant And therefore God's Mercies are call'd the sure mercies of David And God stiles himself †Exod. 34.6 abundant in goodness and truth * 1 Jam. 17. With him is no variableness neither shadow of turning If God has promis'd he will perform †Nam 23.19 God is not a man that he should lye neither the son of man that he should repent Has he said it and shall he not do it Or has he spoken and shall he not make it good * Mat. 5.18 24.35 Heaven and earth shall pass away but not one jot or tittle of God's word shall pass away unfulfilled Yea for our further and fuller security and satisfaction God has not only expresly promis'd it but has also sworn it that †Ezek. 33.11 as he lives the penitent Confitent shall not die but live When God says As I live he earnestly desires to be believed O happy we says * De Paenitent c. 4. Tertullian for whose sake the Lord does swear O miserable we if we won't believe him when we have not only his Word but Oath Now since God has so graciously condescended to our weakness and has so fully satisfied us of his love and good will towards us let not us be wanting in performing the Condition on our part because God can never be wanting in making good and performing the Promise on his part For if we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness CHAP. XV. A double Direction by way of Preparation to the Duty of Confession 1. Premeditate as much as you can in order to Confession 2. Be sure to look up unto God for Conviction HAving hitherto perswaded you to set upon the performance of this Duty I shall now give you some Directions about it that so the performance of it may be the more acceptable unto God and the more profitable to your selves I have thought upon somewhat which may serve to direct you 1. before the Duty in your Preparation to it 2. Concerning some Circumstances of the very Peformance of it 3. And lastly In your carriage and behaviour after the Duty 1. Before Confession take these two Preparatory Directions 1. Premeditate as much as you can in order to Confession 2. Be sure to look up unto God for Con-Conviction 1. Meditate before you confess Much is the fruit great is the benefit of this Direction I shall shew you a fourfold Benefit of it 1. Previous Meditation works the heart into a solemn serious confessing frame and temper Confession it 's the pouring out of the Heart before God now previous Meditation even melts the Sinner's Heart fits and prepares it to be poured out Alas our Stomach at first is too big to confess our sin to acknowledge our selves in a fault for this is an act of Humility of yielding and submitting to another which we naturally scorn to do and won't be brought to till our Heart be broken till our Stomach be pull'd down which is kindly wrought effectually done by Meditation by considering the Sovereignty of God over us his Power to make a Law and to command us the observance of it by bethinking our selves how much to our own Advantage the keeping of this Law would have been both here and hereafter and yet that we have wilfully broken this holy and just and good Law and so made our selves obnoxious to Divine Justice Considering after all this that it is not in vain to confess what we have done our Heart cannot but be now ready our Mouth cannot but be open to confess the extream sinfulness of our sins Thus you see how Premeditation puts us upon Confession and makes us willingly buckle to the Duty by shewing us the Reasonableness and Profitableness of the performance of it 2. Meditation as it puts the Sinner upon Confession so it affords and ministers abundant Mat er for Confession He that meditates before he confesses is very well furnished in his Confession He is not at a stand he is not to seek for what he should confess next he sees enough in himself to complain of himself for unto God It 's this Mediation that fills up the Bill of Indictment with so many Items Meditation it fully and clearly discovers our sins to us It 's the bringing the Elephant to the Water and the shewing of him there the ugliness and deformity of his * Lerg Scout Proboscis The Water is the Law now by Meditation we compare our selves with the Law of God and our Practises with its Commands and Injunctions and so we see how hugely deficient how very far short we are of our several Duties Meditation is the Hand which holds the Glass of the Law before us in which we plainly behold our own Faces and see all the spots and blemishes we have contracted Meditation is the perambulation of the Mind thro' the whole course of a Man's old Life It 's a reflection upon a recollection and recognition of our former actions When we have by solemn Meditation read over the Book of our past life turn'd over and examin'd the several leafs of it and so made good observation of our former Conversation then shall we be best able in our Confession to set down justly our Errata's and to give our God a penitential relation of our miscarriages 3. Meditation as it brings in Matter so it begets Affection * Psal 39.3 While I was musing says David the fire burned then spake I with my tongue It holds true in Confession as well as in any other part of Prayer 4. Meditation as it gives us a sight of our sins and so lays in Matter for Confession so it gives us a sight of God's Promises freely made unto penitent Confessors and so chears and strengthens and bears up our Hearts in Confession by shewing us what Attribute of God what Promise in his Word is most suitable most comfortable to us in our present condition and fittest to be pleaded with God in Confession Let us therefore prepare our selves to Confession by premeditation without which we can never confess as we ought But yet 2. Let 's not rest in our Premeditation but let 's be sure to call in the Assistance of the Spirit in our very entrance upon the Duty of Confession Let 's beg of God that he would give us his holy Spirit to convince us of sin We can never be able to tell our Dreams unless we be well awaken'd by the illightning convincing Spirit of God Let 's look upon our selves as poor dark blind Creatures and seek to God to be anointed with Spiritual Eye-salve that we may see Let every one of us cry to God * Job 34.32 That which I see not teach thou me and say with Job †Job 13.23 How many are
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
is convinc'd he has wrong'd God and is sorry for the Wrong he has done him and would fain be Friends with him Let 's bring our Selves to the Test here Let us try our Sincerity by this very Mark. We can go in Secret to commit Sin but do we get into Secret to confess it We can be vile and wicked in private but can we be penitent in private too Do we know what belongs to secret Confession I 'm afraid the most of us are practically ignorant of this Duty But if we can enter into our Closet and when we have shut the Door be free with our Father in Secret This is likely to be an Argument and Testimony of our Sincerity So much for your Direction concerning the Place where you should confess CHAP. XVII Further Directions respecting and ordering our Carriage and Behaviour after the Duty 1. Hast thou confess'd Then bless God who has enabled thee to confess 2 Hast thou confess'd and so perform'd the Condition Then apply the Promise to thy self and make good Vse of it in time of Temptation 3. Hast thou confess'd Then daily plead the Promise with God and carefully look after the Performance of it 4. Hast thou confess'd and found and felt the Benefit of it Why then give God the Praise that is due to him 5. Hast thou confess'd thy sins Then take great heed of falling into sin after Confession And here 1. Take heed of falling wilfully into any sin after Confession 2. Beware especially that you fall not wilfully into the same particular sins you have confess'd For 1. There is great danger of it Danger 1. To the formal Confessor in four respects 2. Danger too to the Penitent Confessor 1. From Satan 2. The greatest danger from our own Corruption 2. There is great Evil and Folly in it great Guilt and Danger by reason of it For 1. falling into sin after Confession does exceedingly aggravate the sin Sin after Confession a great sin in three respects 2. As this is a great sin so it brings along with it great Punishment both internal and external Punishments 3. Sinning wilfully after Confession will make you Self-condemn'd when God punisheth you 4. 'T will break our present Peace and dash our Hopes of future and further Comfort 5. Thou wilt thus cut out for thy self new Work and make the Severities of a New Repentance necessary 6. Falling into sin after Confession will make us the more unapt and unable to rise again and recover out of it it will strengthen Sin and weaken Grace in us 7. 'T will very much dishearten us when we would beg Pardon of our sin and hugely discourage us when we would renew our Resolution against it 8. 'T will make God loth ever to take your Word again and will render him harder to Pardon you upon a new Confession I Shall in the last place direct you in your Carriage and Behaviour after the Duty And here I shall commend to you these following Directions 1. Hast thou confess'd Then Bless God who has enabled thee to confess who has put it into thy Heart to confess And tho' thou art not yet sensible of the Receipt of Pardon yet look upon it as a Sign and Token that God intends more good to thee in that he has inclined and enabled thee to confess 2. Hast thou confess'd and so perform'd the Condition Then apply the Promise to thy self and make good use of it in time of Temptation 1. Lay hold upon the Promise look upon the Promise as belonging to thee in particular reckon thy self really and truly interested in it and be bold to challenge a part and share in it as well as any one else 2. And further Make good use of it in time of Temptation If thou hast been truly sorrowful for thy sins and hast heartily confess'd them to God why then when Satan vexes and molests thy Conscience by laying the Law to thee it will be profitable and comfortable to oppose Satan to answer him and reply upon him as * Luther loc com de Paver Conse in Tentat p. 130 131 3. Clas Luther Counsels excellently and to say thus to him True I have done thus and thus but what 's that to thee Satan I a'n't thy Sinner What power then hast thou over me If I have sinn'd I han't sinn'd against thee I han't sinn'd against any Man against any Angel but only against my God have I sinn'd who is Merciful and Long-suffering Here 's enough indeed to answer all the Devils in Hell withal If the Devil object thy unworthiness to thee tell him That God does not Pardon any because they are Worthy or Deserving but because he himself is Faithful and Just If Satan tempt thee to distrust here take the course that †Lâ—â— â—itat p. 131. Luther advises to Say Tho' I am unworthy to receive so great a benefit yet God is not unworthy to be believ'd that he will Pardon sin as he has promised in his Word 3. Hast thou confess'd Then daily plead the Promise with God and carefully look after the Performance of it When Guilt affrights thee and Filth troubles thee then plead God's Promise with him Say with David * Psal 2.3 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin for I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me Lord I confess do thou pardon do thou purge me Take away all iniquity Create in me a clean Heart O God Extend thy Grace and Mercy fulfil thy Word and make good thy Promise to me Plead hard the Gospel-Promise and diligently look after the Performance of it * Ps 85.8 Hear what God the Lord will speak for he will speak peace unto his people and to his Saints Say with the Church †Mic. 7.7 I will look unto the Lord I will wait for the God of my salvation my God will hear me Expect from God the making good of his Word Non-expectation argues great Carelesness and Vnbelief 4. Hast thou confess'd and after Confession found and felt that God has forgiven thee thy sins and in some measure cleans'd thee from thy unrighteousness Why then give God the Praise that is due to him break into Thanksgiving with holy David and take up his Doxology Say * Ps 1â—3 1 2 3. Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me bless his holy name Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits who forgiveth all thine iniquities who healeth all thy diseases †Luk. 17.15 12. With the good Leper in the Gospel when thou seest that thou art heal'd turn back and with a loud voice glorifie God and fall down at his feet giving him thanks 5. Hast thou confess'd thy sins Then take great heed of falling into Sin after Confession all is lost without observation of this Direction If thou hast the true Spirit of Confession of Sin it will rest upon thee and abide in thee
afterwards as the Spirit of sincere Obedience to God's Commands and Universal compliance with his Will Let me exhort you in the Words of Ezra Ezr. 10.11 Now therefore make confession unto the Lord God of thy fathers and do his pleasure Confession of our Sins to God and doing the Divine Pleasure must go together our Confession must be like that of David's Psal 119.26 I have declared my ways and thou heardest teach me thy statutes After we have confess'd we should desire and endeavour to walk uprightly and to learn God's Laws and Statutes and should abhor to live carelesly and loosly and to run into sin fearlesly and presumptuously Confession and Repudiation and Renunciation of sin Confession and Confusion of sin must go together it is not who so barely confesseth but Who so confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall have mercy Prov. 28.13 We are too ready to think that we have done all as soon as ever we have confess'd and that what remains is only God's acting of his Part when as you see the Promise runs thus Who so confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall have mercy The Advice I shall give you I shall lay before you in two Particulars Let me fasten this double Word of Counsel on you 1. Take heed of falling wilfully into any sin after Confession for he that confesses sin aright confesses Sin as Sin with a real hatred of shame and sorrow for Sin as Sin and so is engag'd against all Sin whatsoever Hate even the Garment spotted by the flesh Hate every false way But 2. Beware especially that ye fall not wilfully into the same particular sins ye have confess'd Let 's take heed of the Repetition and Recommission of the very same fault after Confession Take heed of this for 1. There is great Danger of it 2. There is great Evil and Folly in it great Guilt and Danger by reason of it 1. There 's great danger of it of returning to the same Sin again after Confession Danger to the formal and Danger too to the penitent Confessor 1. Danger enough to be sure in respect of the formal customary Confessor For 1. Such an one is ready to think that he has made even and compounded with God by his last Confession and so is ready to sin afresh and to run on a new Score having now no old Sins to answer for as he thinks Or 2. The formal Confessor is somewhat eas'd by confessing as the Drunkard is by his vomiting and so is apt now to take heart to fall to 't again having no trouble upon his spirit to restrain him Or 3. He reckoning with himself that his formal customary Confession does without any more ado presently obtain his Pardon he therefore encourages himself to sin by conceiting and fancying the extream easiness of getting and procuring a Pardon at the cheap rate of reiterated Confession And so makes a small light trivial matter of sinning again by thinking thus with himself I may venture to sin again it is but making another Confession God is a merciful God If I confess again he 'll forgive again †Vid. Tertul de Paenitent c. 7. Thus he turns the Grace of God into wantonness and makes the Divine Mercy a Principle of looseness and licentiousness And thus he annihilates God's Wisdom and Holiness and makes God but a Mock-God a credulous easie contemptible petty Deity This is much like * Philip de Com. B. 2 c. 8. Lewis XI of France who carried a leaden Image or Crucifix on his Hat and when he had done any act his Conscience check'd him for he pluck'd off his Hat and bowed to the Image or Crucifix asking forgiveness for it upon which he reckoned and made account that God and he were Friends Or 4. Lastly There is danger enough of this to thee that art but a meer formal Confessor because the Lord may justly punish thy hypocritical Confession by leaving thee to thy self and giving thee up to sin with more greediness afterwards than before as you know he dealt with Pharaoh But 2. As there is danger to the formal Confessor so there is danger also to the penitent Confessor of relapsing and falling back into the same sin again There is danger here 1. From Satan who becomes himself more * Vid. â—â—rtul aâ—nit c. 7. watchful when once he sees the Sinner awaken'd We have an Adversary always studying Advantages against us The Devil when he departs he departs but for a Season he leaves a Man with a purpose to return to him again at a convenient time and fit opportunity There is real danger of our falling again into sin confess'd because Satan is resolv'd not to give over yet he 'll set upon us with a new Temptation he 'll try new Devices with us There 's danger from Satan but 2. The greatest danger here is from our own Corruption and the falseness and deceitfulness of our own revolting backsliding Hearts which are apt upon the performance of Duty to draw us into Carnal Security and to give Satan considerable Advantage against us After Confession we are prone to Self-Confidence and ready to think our selves strongly enough Arm'd and sufficiently Fortified against any temptation to those sins which we have confess'd To conclude that having taken such Physick we are well enough antidoted against all Infection not to doubt but that we have now put on Armor of proof that will resist and repel the sharpest Weapons of our Spiritual Enemies We are apt to be safe upon our Confessional Resolutions and ready to think that we have shewn such high dislike of our sin in our Confession that the Devil is now discourag'd from medling with us and thinks it in vain to offer to have any more to do with us and therefore we neglect our Watch and draw off our Guards as no way fearing the return of our Enemy Thus we are apt to be secure upon Confession and the Devil now takes the greatest Advantage that can be by our Negligence and Presumption to draw us into sin afresh and deal with us as he pleases Thus you see there 's great danger of falling into sins confess'd therefore take heed of it be watchful and vigilant over thy self If thou hast not a special care sin will soon get into thee again as cold easily gets into a Man's Body who was just now very hot or has newly vomited But 2. As there is great danger of wilful falling into the same particular sin again so there is great Evil and Folly in it great Guilt and Danger by reason of it For 1. Falling into sin again after Confession especially into any gross sin does exceedingly aggravate the sin In the old Law * Levit. 13. â— 8. if the Scab did spread much abroad in a Man's â—kin after that he had been seen of the Priest for his cleansing then the Priest pronounc'd him unclean for it was a Leprosie Even so if after we have shewn our selves unto God for
it You then saw it in some good measure as God himself sees it You then thought of it as holy Men do when they are enlighten'd by God's Spirit You then judg'd of it as your Saviour himself when he suffer'd upon the Cross and felt the weight of his Father's Wrath for your Sin judg'd of it You then spake of it as the Scripture it self as the Spirit in the Scripture speaks of it As the Righteous and Holy Law-Giver himself expresses himself concerning it in his Word You then felt the pain and smart of it and call'd it an evil and a bitter thing Jer. 2.19 and befool'd your self for medling with it You then had a graat Prejudice of Mind a strong Antipathy of Heart against it and fully resolv'd in the very Presence and Hearing of God himself never to have any more to do with it O keep these severe Thoughts fresh still Never suffer them to wear off again This will certainly sowr and imbitter Sin to you and make you ha' no mind to it and cause you to find no pleasure and delight at all in it no more than in Gall and Wormwood no more than in Wounds and Bruises in Aches and Pains and broken Bones The remembrance of the Bitterness of Sin which we fully felt in Confession of Sin will effectually preserve in our Minds and Hearts a constant disgust and disrelishing of Sin an utter disaffection to it a total condemnation of it and an absolute aversation from it It 's very potent to restrain and deter us from yielding to it or ever closing any more with it 'T will make us disallow it now at present as then we disallow'd it This very Consideration will easily repel that notable Temptation of Satan wherein he goes about to draw us to Sin by perswading us of the Easiness and facility of getting a Pardon upon reiterated Confession Thou maist venture to Sin again says he it is but Confessing again Now the lively Remembrance of what we formerly felt in Confessing assures us that Confession which the Devil makes but a but of is as hard and difficult a Piece of Work as can be That it 's no such easie matter to Confess That this is a grievous Penalty a pungent afflictive Duty When Satan tempts one after Confession if the Man be still sensible of his Sin and of the Evil of it the Devil then finds but poor Entertainment What says the Soul Art thou the Cause of all my Torments come again Surely a bloody Master hast thou been unto me and now thou daily seekest subtilly to devour me What would you have me Sin again and so be wretched and miserable for ever Or say you I may Repent and Confess again afterwards I know then too too well already what it will cost me I well remember the Shame and Sorrow and Self-Revenge that must be acted and exercis'd in that Duty Non tanti emam poenitere I 'll not buy Repentance at so dear a Rate This is the first Rule That you may not Sin after Confession be sure you continue the same Apprehension you had of your Sin under some notable Conviction in any former Confession 2. That thou maist not hereafter wilfully fall into any particular Sin already confest seriously consider and remember That thou art at present in dependance upon God for Mercy and art very fair for 't And therefore think thus with thy Self How dare I do this and dishonour him afresh from whom I expect so much Won't my repeating of this Sin deaden my Hopes and frustrate my Expectations Can I think that God will love and own favour and tender me after this Will God speak Peace to my Soul if I return again to Folly Will God comfort my Conscience and cheer my Spirit if I churlishly sad and grieve his Spirit Will God wash and cleanse me if I wilfully defile and pollute my self This very Meditation will in a great measure discourage and dishearten curb and restrain you from sinning especially from relapsing into any Sin particularly confest 3. That we may not fall into Sins confest Let 's be always imploring Divine Assistance and improving our own Endeavours against them Let 's heartily beg God's Grace and earnestly seek the Lord and his Strength and faithfully use Grace receiv'd and up and be doing and go and act in the Strength of the Lord. Let 's apprehend our selves in danger of every Corruption of every Temptation and be afraid lest any Temptation should blow out the Light of former Conviction and allay the Heat and abate the Strength of former Resolution and draw us to return again to Folly Let 's every Day watch and pray that we enter not into Temptation Let 's be sober and vigilant because our Adversary the Devil as a roaring Lion walketh about seeking how he may devour us Let 's manfully resist the strongest Temptations to the Sins we ha' confest shun all Occasions and abstain from all Appearance of Evil and exercise Self-denial and labour betimes to break our selves of our own Wills Let 's daily observe the very first risings and motions and stirrings of those Sins in our Hearts which at any time we have confest and repented of And let 's remember and consider how they formerly won and gain'd upon us and let 's resist their very beginnings and nip them in the very bud and crush the very Coccatrice Eggs. Let 's not entertain any old Sin so much as in our Fancy Let 's never venture to keep it's Picture nor once offer to wear it's Favor Let 's bear no loving pleasing remembrance of it nor shew any kind respect to it but express the highest dislike of it and the most implacable irreconcilable Enmity against it So much for the Means or Helps in the Use of which we may keep our Selves from foully and wilfully falling into Sins confest CHAP. XIX This fifth Direction concluded with a double Caution 1. While we take heed of falling on the one side into the same particular sin we confess'd let us also beware of falling on the other side into the contrary sin to that we confess'd 2. If through strength of Corruption or violence of Temptation thou shouldst at any time fall into the same sin again thou must not for all this run into Despair but thou must renew thy Confession as thou renewest thy Transgression This gives no License at all to sin but is the best Preservative and Antidote against it I Shall shut up this Direction with these two Cautions 1 Caution While we take heed of falling on the one side into the same particular sin we confess'd let us also beware of falling on the other side into the contrary sin to that we confess'd * Dum vitant stulti vitia in contraria currunt Horat. Satyr 2. Inter caetera mala illud pessimum est quòd vitia ipsa mutamus Judicia nostra non tantùm prava sed etiam levia sunt Sen. de otio Sap. cap.
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