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"blood was fhed for us, our eyes" fhould " run SERM. "down with rivers of tears;" fo often as we "look CLIX. 66 upon him whom we have pierced," we fhould "mourn over him." When the Son of God fuffered, "the rocks were rent in funder ;" and fhall. not the confideration of thofe fufferings be effectual to break the moft ftony and obdurate heart?

What can be more proper when we come to this facrament, than the rewing of our repentance? When we partake of this paffover, we should "eat "it with bitter herbs." The moft folemn expresfions of our repentance fall fhort of thofe fufferings, which our blefid SAVIOUR underwent for our fins. If our head were waters, and our eyes fountains "of tears," we could never fufficiently lament the curled effects and confequences of thofe provocations which were fo fatal to the Son of God.

And that our repentance may be real, it must be accompanied with the refolution of a better life; for if we return to our fins again, "we trample under "foot the Son of GoD, and profane the blood of "the covenant," and out of "the cup of falvation "we drink our own damnation," and turn that which fhould fave us into an inftrument and feal of our own ruin,

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SERMON CLX.

Of confeffing and forfaking fin, in order to pardon.

SERM.

CLX.

PRO V. xxviii. 13.

He that covereth his fins, fhall not profper: but whofo confeffeth and forfaketh them, fhall have mercy.

SINC

INCE we are all finners, and liable to the juftice of GOD, it is a matter of great moment to our comfort and happiness, to be rightly informon Ah- ed by what means, and upon what terms, we may wednef- be reconciled to GOD, and find mercy with him. day.

Preached

And to this purpose the text gives us this advice and direction, "whofo confeffeth and forfaketh his fins fhall have mercy."

In which words there is a great bleffing and benefit declared and promifed to finners, upon certain conditions. The bleffing and benefit promised, is "the mercy and favour of GOD," which comprehends all the happy effects of God's mercy and goodnefs to finners. And the conditions upon which this bleffing is promifed are two, "confeffion of our fins,

and forfaking of them;" and these two contain in them the whole nature of that great and neceffary duty of repentance, without which a finner can have no reasonable hopes of the mercy of GOD.

I. Here is a bleffing or benefit promised, which is "the mercy and favour of God." And this in the full extent of it, comprehends all the effects of the mercy and goodness of GOD to finners, and doth primarily import the pardon and forgiveness of our fins.

And

CLX.

And this probably Solomon did chiefly intend in this SER M expreffion; for fo the mercy of GoD doth most frequently fignify in the old teftament, viz. the forgivenefs of our fins. And thus the prophet explains it, Ifa. lv. 7. "Let the wicked forfake his ways, and "the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him. "return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy, and to our GOD for he will abundantly pardon." But now fince the clear revelation of the gospel, the mercy of GoD doth not only extend to the pardon of fin, but to power against it; because this alfo is an effect of GoD's free grace and mercy to finners, to enable them, by the grace of his holy Spirit, to mafter and mortify their lufts and to perfevere in goodness to the end.

And it comprehends alfo our final pardon and abfolution at the great day, together with the glorious reward of eternal life, which the apostle expreffeth, by "finding mercy with the LORD in that day." And this likewife is promised to repentance, Acts "Repent ye therefore, and be converted,

iii. 19.

that your fins may be blotted out, when the times "of refreshing shall come from the presence of the "LORD, and he fhall fend JESUS CHRIST, who "before was preached unto you;" that is, that when JESUS CHRIST who is now preached unto you fhall come, you may receive the final fentence of abfolution and forgiveness,

And thus much fhall fuffice to have spoken of the bleffing and benefit here promised, the mercy of GOD; which comprehends all the bleffed effects of the divine grace and goodness to finners, the present pardon of fin, and power to mortify fin, and to perfevere in a good courfe, and our final abfolution by

the

SERM. the fentence of the great day, together with the merCLX. ciful and glorious reward of eternal life.

II. We will confider in the next place, the conditions upon which this bleffing is promised, and they are two, the confeffing and forfaking of our fins, "Whofo confeffeth and forfaketh his fin, fhall have "mercy;" and thefe two do contain and constitute the whole nature of repentance, without which a finner can have no reasonable hopes to find mercy with GOD. I begin with the

First, the confeffion of our fins; by which is meant a penitent acknowledgment of our faults to GOD; to God I fay, because the confeffion of our fins to men, is not, generally speaking, a condition of the forgiveness of them, but only in fome particular cafes, when our fins against GoD are accompanied and complicated with scandal and injury to men. In other cafes the confeffion of our fins to men is not neceffary to the pardon of them; as I fhall more fully fhew in the progrefs of this difcourfe.

All the difficulty in this matter is, that the confeffion of our fins is oppofed to the covering and concealing of them: "he that covereth his fin fhall "not profper: but whofo confeffeth them fhall have "mercy." But no man can hope to hide his fin from God, and therefore confeffion of them to God cannot be here meant. But this objection, if it be of any force, quite excludeth confeffion to GOD, as no part of Solomon's meaning; when yet confeffion of our fins to GOD is granted, on all hands, to be a neceffary condition of the forgiveness of them. And to take away the whole ground of this objection; men are said in scripture, when they do not confefs their fins and repent of them, to hide and conceal them from God: not to acknowledge them is as if

a man

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a man went about to cover them.

..

And thus David SERM.

oppofeth confeffion of fins to GOD, to the hiding of CLX. them, Pfal. xxxii. 5. "I acknowledged my fin unto "thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid: I faid I

will confefs my tranfgreffions unto the LORD." So that this is no reafon, why the text fhould not be understood of the confeffing of our fins to GOD.

But because the neceffity of confeffing our fins to men (that is, to the priest) in order to the forgivenefs of them, is a great point of difference between us and the church of Rome, it being by them esteemed a neceffary article of faith, but by us, fo far from being neceffary to be believed, that we do not believe it to be true; therefore for the clear ftating of this matter, I fhall briefly inquire into thefe two things.

I. Whether confeffion of our fins to the priest, as taught and practifed in the church of Rome, be neceffary to the forgivenefs of them.

II. How far the difclofing and revealing of our fins to the ministers of GOD is convenient upon other accounts, and for other purposes of religion.

I. Whether confeffion of our fins to the priest, and the manner in which it is taught and practifed in the church of Rome, be neceffary to the forgiveness of them. What manner of confeffion this is, the council of Trent hath moft precisely determined, viz. "Secret confeffion to the prieft alone, of all "and every mortal fin, which upon the moft diliSC gent fearch and examination of our confciences "we can remember ourselves to be guilty of, fince

our Baptifm; together with all the circumftances "of those fins, which may change the nature of "them; because without the perfect knowledge of

thefe, the priest cannot make a judgment of the

66 nature

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