Eighty Sermons, penitential psalms · Sermon 58
SERM. LVIII. Preached upon the Penitentiall Pſalmes.
PSAL. 32.5.
I acknowledged my ſin unte thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I ſaid, I will confeſſe my tranſgreſsions unto the Lord, and thou forgaveſt the iniquity of my ſin.
THis is the Sacrament of Confeſſion; So we may call it in a ſafe meaning; That is, The myſtery of Confeſſion: for true Confeſſion is a myſterious Art.2. Theſſ. 2.7. Mat. 22.1. As there is a Myſtery of iniquity, ſo there is a Myſtery of the Kingdome of heaven. And the myſtery of the Kingdome of heaven is this, That no man comes thither, but in a ſort as he is a notorious ſinner. One myſtery of iniquity is, that in this world, though I multiply ſins, yet the Judge cannot puniſh me, if I can hide them from other men, though he know them; but if I confeſſe them, he can, he will, he muſt. The myſtery ofthe Kingdome of heaven, is, That onelyonly the Declaring, the Publiſhing, the Notifying, and Confeſſing of my ſins, poſſeſſes me of the Kingdome of heaven; There is a caſe, in which the notoriety of my ſins does harme; when my open ſinning, or my publiſhing of my ſin, by way of glory in that ſin, caſts a ſcandall upon others, and leads them into tentation; for ſo, my ſin becomes theirs, becauſe they ſin my ſin by example, And their ſin becomes mine, becauſe I gave the example, and we aggravate one anothers ſin, and both ſin both. But there is a publication of ſin, that both alleviates, nay annihilates my ſin, and makes him that hates ſin, Almighty God, love me the better, for knowing me to be ſuch a ſinner, then if I had not told him of it. Therefore doe we ſpeak of the myſtery of Confeſſion; for it is not delivered in one Rule, nor practiſed in one Act.
In this Confeſſion of Davids, Diviſie.(I acknowledged my ſin unto thee, &c.) We ſhall ſee more then ſo; for, though our two Parts be but the two Acts, Davids Act, and Gods Act, Confeſſion and Abſolution, yet is there more then one ſingle action to be conſidered in each of them. For firſt, in the firſt, there is a reflected Act, that David doth upon himſelfe, before he come to his Confeſſion to God; Something David had done, before he came to ſay, I will confeſſe, As he did confeſſe, before God forgave the iniquity of his ſin. Now that which he did in himſelfe, and which preceded his Confeſſion to God, was the Notum feci, I acknowledged my ſin; which was not his bringing it to the knowledge of God by way of Confeſſion, for, (as you ſee by the Method of the Holy Ghoſt, in the frame of the Text) it preceded his purpoſe of confeſſing, but it was the taking knowledge of his ſin in himſelfe, It was his firſt quickning, and inanimation, that grace gave his ſoul, as the ſoule gives the child in the Mothers womb. And then in Davids act upon himſelfe, followes the Non operui, I have not hid mine iniquity, none of mine iniquities from mine owne ſight: I have diſplayed to my ſelfe, anatomized mine own conſcience, left no corner unſearched, I am come to a perfect underſtanding of mine own caſe, Non operui, This is Davids act upon himſelfe, the recalling, and recollecting of his ſins, in his own memory. And then finding the number, the waight, and ſo, the oppreſſion of thoſe ſins there, he conſiders where he may diſcharge himſelfe of them; And Dixi, ſayes David, which is a word that implies both Deliberation, and Reſolution, and Execution too; I thought what was beſt to doe, and I reſolved upon this, and I did it; Dixi Confitebor, That I would make a true, a full, a hearty Confeſſion to God of all thoſe ſins; for ſuch we ſee the Elements and the Extent of his Confeſſion to be; He will confeſſe Peccata, Tranſgreſſions, Sins; Neither by an over-tenderneſſe, and diffidence, and ſcrupuloſity, to call things ſins, that are not ſo, nor by indulgent flattering, and ſparing of himſelf, to forbear thoſe things which are truly ſo; He will confeſſe Peccata, Sins, and Peccata ſua, His ſins; Firſt, Sua, that is, A ſe perpetrata, He will acknowledge them to have proceeded, and to have been committed by himſelf, he will not impute them to any other cauſe, leaſt of all to God; And then, Sua, non aliena, he will confeſſe ſins that are his own ſins, and not meddle with the ſins of other men, that appertain not to him. This is the ſubject of his Confeſſion, Sins, & His ſins, and then, Peccata ſua Domino, His ſins unto the Lord, both in that conſideration, That all ſins are committed againſt the Lord, and in that alſo, That Confeſſion of all ſins is to be made unto the Lord; And laſtly, all this, (as S. Hierome reads this text, and ſo alſo did our former Tranſlation) Adverſum ſe, Againſt himſelf, that is, without any hope of reliefe, or reparation in himſelf. He begins to think of his own ſinfull ſtate, and he proceeds to a particular inquiſition upon his conſcience, There is his preparation, Then he conſiders, and thereupon reſolves, and thereupon proceeds to confeſſe things that are truly ſins, And then all them as his own, without imputing them to others, If they be his own, without medling with others, And theſe to the Lord, againſt whom all ſin is committed, and to whom all Confeſſion is to be directed; And all this ſtill againſt himſelf, without any hope from himſelf. All this is in Davids action, preparatorily in himſelf, and then declaratorily towards God, and doe but make up our firſt Part.
In the other, which is Gods Act towards David, the Abſolution, the Remiſſion, the Forgiveneſſe, we ſhall conſider firſt the fulneſſe; for, it is both of the ſin, and the puniſhment of the ſin, for the word imports both, and our two Tranſlations have expreſſed it between them, for that which one Tranſlation calls the Iniquity of the ſin, the other calls The puniſhment; And then we ſhall conſider the ſeaſonableneſſe, the ſpeed, the acceleration of Gods mercy, in the Abſolution, for in David it is but Actus inchoatus, and Actus conſummat as in God, David did but ſay, I will confeſſe, and God forgave the iniquity, and the puniſhment of his ſin. Now as this Diſtribution is Paraphraſe enough upon the text, ſo a little larger Paraphraſe upon every piece of the Paraphraſe, will be as much as will fall into this exerciſe. For, as you ſee, he branches are many, and full of fruit, and I can but ſhake them, and leave every one to gather his own portion, to apply thoſe notes, which may moſt advance his edification.
Firſt then in this myſtery of Confeſſion,1 Part. Notum ſeci. we conſider Davids reflected act, his preparatory act, preceding his confeſſion to God, and tranſacted in himſelfe, of which the firſt motion is, the Notum feci, I acknowledged in my ſelfe, I came to a feeling in my ſelfe, what my ſinfull condition was. This is our quickning in our regeneration, and ſecond birth; and til this come, a ſinner lies as the Chaos in the beginning of the Creation, before the Spirit of God had moved upon the face of the waters, Dark, and voyd, and without forme; He lies, as we may conceive, out of the Authors of Naturall Story, the ſlime and mud of the River Nilus to lie, before the Sun-beames ſtrike upon it; which after, by the heat of thoſe beames, produces ſeverall ſhapes, and formes of creatures. So till this firſt beame of grace, which we conſider here, ſtrike upon the ſoule of a ſinner, he lies in the mud and ſlime, in the dregs and lees, and tartar of his ſinne. Hee cannot ſo much as wiſh, that that Sunne would ſhine upon him, he doth not ſo much as know, that there is ſuch a Sunne, that hath that influence, and impreſſion; But if this firſt beame of Grace enlighten him to himſelfe, reflect him upon himſelfe, notum facit, (as the Text ſayes) if it acquaint him with himſelfe, then, as the creatures in the Creation, then, as the new creatures at Nilus, his ſins begin to take their formes, and their ſpecifications, and they appeare to him in their particular true ſhapes, and that which hee hath in a generall name, called Pleaſure or Wantonneſſe, now cals it ſelfe in his conſcience, a direct Adultery, a direct Inceſt; and that which he hath called Frugality, and providence for family and poſterity, tells him plainly, My name is Oppreſſion, and I am the ſpirit of covetouſneſſe. Many times men fall into company, and accompany others to houſes of riot and uncleanneſſe, and doe not ſo much as know their ſinfull companions names; nay they doe not ſo much as know the names of the ſins that they commit, nor thoſe circumſtances in thoſe ſinnes, which vary the very name and nature of the ſin.
But then,Gregor. Oculos, quos culpa claudit, poena aperit, Thoſe eyes, which ſinne ſhut, this firſt beame of Grace opens, when it comes, and works effectually upon us; Till this ſeaſon of grace,Ier. 2.29. this ſinner is blind to the Sunne, and deafe to Thunder. A wild Aſſe, that is uſed to the wilderneſſe, and ſnuffeth up wind at her pleaſure, in her occaſion who can turne her away? An habituall ſinner, that doth not ſtumble, but tumble, as a mighty ſtone downe a hill, in the wayes of his ſin, in his occaſion, who can turne him? in his rage of ſin, what law can withhold him? But ſayes the Prophet there, of that wild Aſſe, All they that ſeeke her, will not weary themſelves; Friends, Magiſtrates, Preachers, doe but weary themſelves, and loſe their labour, in endeavouring to reclaime that ſinner; But in her Month they ſhall finde her, ſayes the Prophet; That is, ſay our Expoſitors, when ſhe is great and unweildy. Some ſuch MonethMonth, God of his goodneſſe brings upon this ſinner; Some ſickneſſe, ſome judgement ſtops him, and then we find him; God by his Ordinance, executed by us, brings him to this Notum feci, into company with himſelfe, into an acquaintance and converſation with himſelfe, and hee ſees his ſinnes looke with other faces, and he heares his ſins ſpeake with other voyces, and hee findes then to call one another by other names: And when hee is thus come to that conſideration, Lord! how have I miſtaken my ſelfe, Am I, that thought my ſelfe, and paſſed with others, for a ſociable, a pleaſurable man, and good company; am I a leprous Adulterer, is that my name? Am I, that thought my ſelfe a frugall man, and a good husband; I, whom fathers would recommend to their children, and ſay, Marke how hee ſpares, how hee growes up, how he gathers, am I an oppreſſing Extortioner, is that my name? Bleſſed be thy name, O Lord, that haſt brought me to this notum feci, to know mine own name, mine owne miſerable condition; he will alſo ſay, may that bleſſing of thine enlarge it ſelfe farther, that as I am come to this notum feci, to know that I miſtooke my ſelfe all this while, ſo I may proceed to the non operui, to a perfit ſifting of my conſcience, in all corners: which is Davids ſecond motion in his act of preparation, and our next conſideration, I acknowledged my ſin, and I hid none, diſguiſed none, non operui.
Sometimes the Magiſtrate is informed of an abuſe,Non operni. and yet proceeds to no farther ſearch, nor inquiſition. This word implies a ſifting of the conſcience. He doth not onelyonly take knowledge of his ſins, then when they diſcover themſelves; of his riot and voluptuouſneſſe, then when he burnes in a fever occaſioned by his ſurfets; nor of his licentiouſneſſe, then when he is under the anguiſh and ſmart of corroſives; nor of his waſtfulneſſe and pride, then when hee is laid in priſon for debt: Hee doth not ſeeke his ſinnes in his Belly, nor in his Bones, nor in his Purſe, but in his Conſcience, and he unfolds that, rips up that, and enters into the privateſt, and moſt remote corners thereof. And there is much more in this negative circumſtance, non operui, I hid nothing, then in the former acknowledgement, notum feci, I tooke knowledge of my ſinnes. When they ſent to ſift Iohn Baptiſt, whether he were The Chriſt, becauſe he was willing to give them all ſatisfaction,Ioh. 1.20. hee expreſſed himſelfe ſo, Hee confeſſed, and denied not, and ſaid, I am not the Chriſt. So when Ioſhuah preſſed Achan, to confeſſe his treſpaſſe,Ioſh. 7.19. he preſſes him with this negative addition, Shew mee what thou haſt done, and hide it not; that is, diſguiſe nothing that belongs to it. For, the better to imprint a confidence, and to remove all ſuſpition, Men to to their Maſters, Wives to their Husbands, will confeſſe ſomething, but yet operiunt, they hide more. Thoſe words, In multitudine virtutis tuae, Pſal. 66.3.Through the greatneſſe of thy power, thine enemies ſhall ſubmit, S. Ierome, and the Septuagint before, and Tremellius after, and all that binde themſelves to the Hebrew letter, reade it thus, Mentientur tibi inimici tui, when thy power is ſhewed upon them, when thy hand lies upon them, thine enemies will lie unto thee, They will counterfait a confeſſion, they will acknowledge ſome ſins, but yet operiunt, they hide, they cover others.1 Sam. 15. Saul in the defeat of the Amalekites reſerved ſome of the fatteſt of the ſpoile, and being deprehended, and reprehended, hee ſaid hee intended it for ſacrifice: Many times, men in great place, abuſe their owne ſoules with that imagination, or palliation, That they doe God good ſervice in ſome ſinne, and that they ſhould more hurt the cauſe of God, if they ſhould proceed earneſtly to the puniſhment of thoſe that oppoſe it, then if they let them alone, and ſo leave lawes unexecuted, and Gods truth endangered. But Davids iſſue was, non iniquitas, non operui, I left none iniquity unſearched, I hid none.
But any thing ſerves us for a cover of ſin, even from a Net, that every man ſees thorow, to ſuch a cloud of darkeneſſe, as none but the prince of darkeneſſe, that caſt that cloud upon us, can ſee us in it, nor we ſee our ſelves. That wee ſhould hide leſſer ſinnes with greater, is not ſo ſtrange; That in an Adultery, wee ſhould forget the circumſtances in it, and the practiſes to come to it. But we hide greater ſins with leſſer, with a manifold, and multiplied throng and cloud of leſſer ſins, all comes to an indifferency, and ſo wee ſee not great ſins. Eaſines of converſation in a woman, ſeemes no great harme; Adorning themſelves to pleaſe thoſe with whom they converſe, is not much more; To heare them, whom they are thus willing to pleaſe, praiſe them, and magnifie their perfections, is little more then that; To allow them to ſue, and ſolicit for the poſſeſſion of that which they have ſo much praiſed, is not much more neither; Nor will it ſeeme much at laſt, to give them poſſeſſion of that they ſue for; nay it will ſeeme a kinde of injuſtice to deny it them. We hide leſſer ſinnes with greater, greater with leſſer; Nay we hide the devill with God, wee hide all the weeks ſins with a Sabbaths ſolemnity: And as in the Romane Church, they poyſoned God, (when they had made their Bread-god, they poyſoned the Emperour with that bread) ſo this is a Poſſeſſing of God, a making the devill to enter into God, when we hide our ſins with an outward ſanctity, and call God to witneſſe and teſtifie to the Congregation, that we are ſaints, when we are devils; for this is a ſuborning of God, and a drawing of God himſelfe into a perjury. We hide our ſinnes in his houſe, by hypocriſie, all our lives, and we hide them at our deaths, perchance with an Hoſpitall. And truely wee had need doe ſo, when we have impoveriſhed God, in his children, by our extorſions, and wounded him, and lam'd him, in them, by our oppreſſions, wee had need provide God an Hoſpitall. As men that rob houſes thruſt in a child at the window, and he opens greater doores for them, ſo leſſer ſins make way for greater. De minimis non curat Lex, The law is faine to paſſe over ſmall faults; but De minimis cur at lux, That light of grace, by which a ſinner diſpoſes himſelfe to confeſſion, muſt diſcover every ſinne, and hide none, ſuffer none to hide it ſelfe, nor lie hidden under others. When God ſpeaks ſo much of Behemoth, and Leviathan, Iob 40. & 41.the great land and ſeaoppreſſors, he calls us to the conſideration of the inſupportableneſſe of great ſinnes; but in the plaines of Egypt by haile, and locuſts, and lice, little and contemptible things, hee calls us to the conſideration of theſe vermine of the ſoule, leſſer and unconſidered ſins. David had not accompliſhed his work upon himſelfe, his reflected, his preparatory Act, till he had made both thoſe ſteps, notum feci, non operui, firſt I tooke knowledge of my ſinfull condition, and then I proceeded to a particular inquiſition of my Conſcience, I tooke knowledge of my ſinne, and mine iniquity I have not hid, and then he was fit to thinke of an acceſſe to God, by confeſſion, Dixi confiteber, &c.
This word,Dixi meditando. Dixi, Amar, I ſaid, is a word that implies firſt meditation, deliberation, conſidering, and then upon ſuch meditation, a reſolution too, and execution after all. When it is ſaid of God, dixit, and dixit, God ſaid this, and ſaid that, in the firſt Creation, Cave ne cogites ſtrepitum, Baſil.Doe not thinke that God uttered any ſound; His ſpeaking was inward, his ſpeaking was thinking. So David uſes this word in the perſon of another, Dixit inſipiens, Pſal. 14.1.The foole hath ſaid, that is, In corde, ſaid in his heart, that is, thought that there is no God. There ſpeaking is thinking; and ſpeaking is reſolving too. So Davids ſon Solomon uſes the word,1 King. 5.5. Behold I purpoſe to build a houſe unto the Lord, where the word is, I ſay, I will doe it, Speaking is determining; and ſpeaking is executing too, Dixi cuſtodiam, I ſaid I will take heed to my wayes, Pſal. 39.1.that is, I will proceed and goe forward in the paths of God. And ſuch a premeditation, ſuch a preconſideration, doe all our approaches, and acceſſes to God, and all our acts in his ſervice require. God is the Rocke of our ſalvation; God is no Occaſionall God, no Accidentall God; neither will God be ſerved by Occaſion, nor by Accident, but by a conſtant Devotion. Our communication with God muſt not be in Interjections; that come in by chance; nor our Devotions made up of Parentheſes, that might be left out. They erre equally, that make a God of Neceſſity, and that make a God of Contingency: They that with the Manichees, make an ill God, a God that forces men to doe all the ill that they doe, And they that with the Epicures, make an idle God, an indifferent God, that cares not what is done; God is not Deſtiny; Then there could be no reward, nor puniſhment: but God is not Fortune neither, for then there were no Providence. If God have given reaſon onelyonly to Man, it were ſtrange that Man ſhould exerciſe that reaſon, in all his Morall and Civill actions, and onelyonly do the acts of Gods worſhip caſually; To go to Court, to Weſtminſter, to the Exchange, for ends, and to come to Church, by chance, or for company, or for ſome collaterall reſpects, that have no relation to God, Not to thinke of our Confeſſion, till the Prieſt have called upon us, to ſay after him, We have erred and ſtraied from thy wayes like loſt ſheepe, To come for Abſolution,Dan. 2.3. as Nebuchadnezzar came to Daniel, for the interpretation of his Dreame, who did not onelyonly not underſtand his Dreame, but not remember it, Somnium ejus fugit ab eo, He did not onelyonly not know what his Dreame meant, but hee did not know what his Dreame was, Not to conſider the nature of Confeſſion, and Abſolution, not to conſider the nature of the ſins we ſhould confeſſe, and be abſolved of, is a ſtupidity againſt Davids practiſe here; Dixit, He ſaid, he meditated, he conſidered, Gods ſervice is no extemporall thing. But then Dixit, He reſolved too, for ſo the word ſignifies, Conſideration, but Reſolution upon it; And then, that he Reſolved, he Executed.
This is not only Davids dixit in corde, Dixi ſtatuendo. Luke 15.12.where ſpeaking is thinking, nor only Solomons dixi adificabo, I reſolved how I might build, but it is alſo the Prodigals Dixi revertar, I ſaid I will go to my Father, A reſolving and executing of that Reſolution for that, that execution crownes all. How many thinke to come hither, when they wake, and are not ready when the houre comes? And even this mornings omiſſion is an abridgement, or an eſſay of their whole lives, They thinke to repent every day, and are not ready when the bell tolls.Cajetan. It is well ſaid of Gods ſpeaking, in the Creation, It was Dictio practica, diffinitiva, Imperativa, Ambroſe.It was an Actuall ſpeaking, a Definitive, an Imperative ſpeaking; And, Dicto abſolvit negotium, His ſaying he would doe it, that is, his meaning to doe it, was the very doing of it. Our Religious duties require meditations, for God is no extemporall God; Thoſe produce determinations, for God muſt not be held in ſuſpence; And they flow into executions, for God is not an illuſible God, to be carried with promiſes, or purpoſes onelyonly; And all thoſe linkes of this religious Chaine, Conſideration, Reſolution, Execution, Thought, Word, and Practiſe, are made out of this golden word, Amar, Dixi, I ſaid I will doe it. And then, Dixi confitebor, I conſidered, that my beſt way was to confeſſe, and I reſolved to doe ſo, and I did it; Dixi confitebor.
It is but a homely Metaphor,Confitebor. Origen. but it is a wholeſome, and a uſefull one, Confeſsio vomitus, Confeſſion works as a vomit; It ſhakes the frame, and it breakes the bed of ſin; and it is an eaſe to the ſpirituall ſtomach, to the conſcience, to be thereby disburdened. It is an eaſe to the ſinner, to the patient; but that that makes it abſolutely neceſſary, is that it is a glory to God; for in all my ſpirituall actions, Apprecations, or Deprecations, whether I pray for benefits, or againſt calamities, ſtill my Alpha, and Omega, my firſt and laſt motive,Ioſh. 7.19. muſt be the glory of God. Therefore Ioſhuah ſayes to Achan, My Son, give I pray thee, glory unto the Lord God of Iſrael, and make Confeſsion unto him. Now, the glory of God ariſes not out of the Confeſſing; but becauſe every true Confeſſing is accompanied with a deteſtation of the ſin, as it hath ſeparated me from God, and a ſenſe of my re-union, and redintegration with God, in the abjuration of my former ſins, (for, to tell my ſin by way of a good tale, or by boaſting in it, though it be a revealing, a manifeſting, is not a Confeſſion) in every true confeſſion God hath glory, becauſe he hath a ſtraid ſoule, re-united to his Kingdome. And to advance this Glory, David confeſſes Peccata, ſins; which is our next Conſideration, I ſaid, I will confeſſe my ſins unto the Lord.
Firſt he reſents his ſtate, All is not well; Then he examines himſelfe,Peccata vera. Thus and thus it ſtands with me; Then he conſiders, then he reſolves, then he executes, He confeſſes, (ſo far we are gone) and now he confeſſes ſins. For, the Phariſees, (though he pretended a Confeſſion) was rather an exprobration, how much God had beene beholden to him, for his Sabbaths, for his Almes, for his Tithes, for his Faſting. David confeſſes ſins; firſt, ſuch things as were truly ſins. For, as the element of Ayre, that lyes betweene the Water, and the Fire, is ſometimes condenſed into water, ſometimes rarified into fire: So lyes the conſcience of man betweene two operations of the Devill; ſometimes he rarifies it, evaporates it, that it apprehends nothing, feeles nothing to be ſin, ſometimes he condenſes it, that every thing falls and ſticks upon it, in the nature, and takes the waight of ſin, and he miſ-interprets the indifferent actions of others, and of his owne, and deſtroyes all uſe of Chriſtian liberty, all converſation, all recreation, and out of a falſe feare, of being undutifull to God, is unjuſt to all the world, and to his owne ſoule, and conſequently to God himſelfe, who, of all notions, would not be received in the notion of a Cruell, or Tyrannicall God. In an obdurate conſcience that feeles no ſin, the Devill glories moſt, but in the over-tender conſcience he practiſes moſt; That is his triumphant, but this is his militant Church; That is his Sabbath, but this is his ſix dayes labour; In the obdurate he hath induced a ſecurity, in the ſcriptures, which the Holy Ghoſt hath expreſt in ſo many names, as Sin; Sin, Wickedneſſe, Iniquity, Tranſgreſsions, Offences, Many, many more; And all this, that thereby we might reflect upon our ſelves often, and ſee if our particular actions fell not under ſome of thoſe names; But then, leſt this ſhould over-intimidate us, there are as many names given by the Holy Ghoſt, to the Law of God; Law, Statutes, Ordinances, Covenants, Teſtimony, Precept, and all the reſt, of which there is ſome one at leaſt, repeated in every verſe of the hundred and nineteenth Pſalme; that thereby we might ſtill have a Rule to meaſure, and try our actions by, whether they be ſins or no. For, as the Apoſtle ſayes, He had not knowne ſinne, if he had not knowne the Law; So there had beene no ſin, if there had beene no Law. And therefore that ſoule that feeles it ſelfe oppreſſed under the burden of a Vow, muſt have recourſe to the Law of God, and ſee whether that Vow fall under the Rule of that Law; For as an over-tender conſcience may call things ſins, that are not, and ſo be afraid of things that never were, ſo may it alſo of things that were, but are not now; of ſuch ſins as were truly ſins, and fearfull ſins, but are now dead, dead by a true repentance, and buried in the Sea of the blood of Chriſt Jeſus, and ſealed up in that Monument, under the ſeale of Reconciliation, the bleſſed Sacrament, and yet riſe ſometimes in this tender conſcience, in a ſuſpition and jealouſie, that God hath not truly, not fully forgiven them. And as a Ghoſt, which we thinke we ſee, afrights us more then an army that we doe ſee: So theſe apparitions of ſins, of things that are not againſt any Law of God, and ſo are not ſins, or ſins that are dead in a true repentance, and ſo have no being at all, by the Devils practiſe worke dangerouſly upon a diſtempered conſcience; for, as God hath given the Soule an Imagination, and a Fancy, as well as an Underſtanding, So the Devill imprints in the conſcience, a falſe Imagination, as well as a fearefull ſenſe of true ſin. David confeſſes ſins, ſins that were truly ſins.
But the more ordinary danger is,Omniae. in our not calling thoſe things which are truly ſins, by that name. For, as ſometimes when the Baptiſme of a Child is deferred for State, the Child dyes unbaptized: So the ſinner defers the Baptiſme of his ſin, in his teares, and in the blood of his Saviour, offered in the bleſſed Sacrament, till he dye nameleſſe, nameleſſe in the booke of Life. It is a Character, that one of the ancienteſt Poets gives of a well-bred, and well-governed Gentleman, That he would not tell ſuch lyes as were like truths, not probable lyes; nor ſuch truths as were like lyes, not wonderfull, not incredible truths; It is the conſtancy of a rectified Chriſtian, not to call his indifferent actions ſins, for that is to ſlander God, as a cruell God; nor to call ſins indifferent actions, for that is to undervalue God, as a negligent God. God doth not keepe the Conſcience of man upon the wrack, in a continuall torture and ſtretching; But God doth not ſtupifie the conſcience with an Opiate, in an inſenſibleneſſe of any ſin. The law of God is the balance, and the Criterium; By that try thine actions, and then confeſſe. David did ſo; Peccata, he confeſſed ſinnes; nothing, that was not ſo, as ſuch; neither omitted he any thing, that was ſo. And then they were Peccata ſua, His ſins, I ſaid, I will confeſſe my ſins unto the Lord.
Firſt,Sua. Sua, His ſinnes, that is, à ſe perpetrata, ſins which he confeſſes to have been of his voluntary committing; He might, and did not avoyd them. When Adam ſaid, by way of alienation, and transferring his fault, The woman whom thou gaveſt me; And the woman ſaid,Gen. 3.12. The Serpent deceived me; God tooke this, by way of Information to finde out the Principall, but not by way of extenuation, or alleviation of their faults; Every Adam eats with as much ſweat of his browes, and every Eve brings forth her Children with as much paine in her travaile, as if there had been no Serpent in the caſe. If a man ſin againſt God, who ſhall plead for him? If a man lay his ſins upon the Serpent, upon the Devill, it is no plea, but if he lay them upon God, it is blaſphemy. Iob finds ſome ground of a pious Expoſtulation with God, in that, My fleſh is not braſſe, nor my ſtrength ſtones; And ſuch as I am, thou haſt made me; why then doeſt thou ſet me up as a marke to ſhoot at? But Iob never hopes for eaſe, in any ſuch allegation; Thou haſt made my ſoule a Ciſterne, and then powred tentations into it; Thou haſt enfeebled it with denying it thy Grace, and then put a giant, a neceſſitie of ſinning upon it. My ſins are mine own; The Sun is no cauſe of the ſhadow my body caſts, nor God of the ſins I commit. David confeſſes his ſinnes, that is, he confeſſes them to be His; And then he confeſſes His, He meddles not with thoſe that are other mens.
The Magiſtrate and the Miniſter are bound to conſider the ſins of others;Non alienae. for, their ſins become Qaodammodo noſtra, in ſome ſort ours, if we doe not reprove, if the Magiſtrate doe not correct thoſe ſins. All men are bound to confeſſe, and lament the ſins of the people. It was then when Daniel was in that exerciſe of his Devotion, Confeſsing his ſinne, Dan. 9.12.and the ſinne of his people, that he received that comfort from the Angel Gabriel; And yet, even then, the firſt thing that fell under his Confeſſion, was his own ſin, My ſin, And then, The ſinne of my people. When Ioſephs brethren came to a ſenſe of that ſin, in having ſold him, none of them transfers the ſin from himſelfe, neither doth any of them diſcharge any of the reſt of that ſin:Gen. 42.21. They all take all; They ſaid to one another, ſayes that Text, we, all we, are verily guilty, and therefore is this diſtreſſe come upon us, upon us all; Nationall calamities are induced by generall ſins, and where they fall, we cannot ſo charge the Laity, as to free the Clergy, nor ſo charge the people, as to free the Magiſtrate. But as great ſummes are rayſed by little perſonall Contributions; ſo a little true ſorrow from every ſoule, would make a great ſacrifice to God, and a few teares from every eye, a deeper and a ſafer Sea, about this Iland, then that that doth wall it. Let us therefore never ſay, that it is Aliena ambitio, The immoderate ambition of a pretending Monarch, that endangers us, That it is Aliena perfidia, The falſhood of perfidious neighbours that hath diſappointed us, That it is Aliena fortuna, The growth of others who have ſhot up under our ſhelter, that may overtop us; They are Peccata noſtra, our own pride, our own wantonneſſe, our own drunkenneſſe, that makes God ſhut and cloſe his hand towards us, withdraw his former bleſſings from us, and then ſtrike us with that ſhut, and cloſed, and heavy hand, and multiply calamities upon us. What a Parliament meets at this houre in this Kingdome? How many ſuch Committees as this? how many ſuch Congregations ſtand, as we doe here, in the preſence of God, at this houre? And what a Subſidy ſhould this State receive, and what a ſacrifice ſhould God receive, if every particular man would but depart with his own beloved ſin? We diſpute what is our own, as though we would but know what to give. Alas, our ſins are our own, let us give them. Our ſins are our own; that we confeſſe; And we confeſſe them, according to Davids Method, Domino, to the Lord; I will confeſſe my ſinnes to the Lord.
After he had deliberated,Domino peecavi. and reſolved upon his courſe, what he would doe, he never ſtayed upon the perſon, to whom; His way being Confeſſion, he ſtayed not long in ſeeking his ghoſtly Father, his Confeſſor, Confitebor Domino. And firſt, Peccata Domino, That his ſins were ſins againſt the Lord. For, as every ſin is a violation of a Law, ſo every violation of a Law reflects upon the Law-maker. It is the ſame offence to coyne a penny, and a piece; The ſame to counterfait the ſeale of a Subpoena, as of a Pardon. The ſecond Table was writ by the hand of God, as well as the firſt; And the Majeſty of God, as he is the Law-giver, is wounded in an adultery, and a theft, as well as in an Idolatry, or a blaſphemy. It is not inough to conſider the deformity and the foulneſſe of an Action ſo, as that an honeſt man would not have done it; but ſo as it violates a law of God, and his Majeſty in that law. The ſhame of men, is one bridle, that is caſt upon us. It is a morall obduration, and in the ſuburbs, next doore to a ſpirituall obduration, to be Voyce-proofe, Cenſure-proofe, not to be afraid, nor aſhamed, what the world ſayes. He that relyes upon his Plaudo domi, Though the world hiſſe, I give my ſelfe a Plaudite at home, I have him at my Table, and her in my bed, whom I would have, and I care not for rumor; he that reſts in ſuch a Plaudite, prepares for a Tragedy, a Tragedy in the Amphitheater, the double Theater, this world, and the next too. Even the ſhame of the world ſhould be one one bridle, but the ſtrongeſt is the other, Peccata Domino, To conſider that every ſin is a violation of the Majeſty of God.
And then Confitebor Domino, ſayes David, I will confeſſe my ſinnes to the Lord; Domino confitebor.ſinnes are not confeſſed, if they be not confeſſed to him; and if they be confeſſed to him, in caſe of neceſſitie it will ſuffice, though they be confeſſed to no other. Indeed, a confeſſion is directed upon God, though it be made to his Miniſter: If God had appointed his Angels, or his Saints to abſolve me, as he hath his Miniſters, I would confeſſe to them. Ioſhuah tooke not the juriſdiction out of Gods hands, when he ſaid to Achan, Joſh. 7.19.Give glory unto the God of Iſrael, in making thy confeſsion to him; And tell me now, what thou haſt done, and hide it not from me. Levit. 14.2.The law of the Leper, is, That he ſhall be brought unto the Prieſt; Men come not willingly to this manifeſtation of themſelves; nor are they to be brought in chains, as they doe in the Roman Church, by a neceſſitie of an exact enumeration of all their ſins: But to be led with that ſweetneſſe, with which our Church proceeds, in appointing ſicke perſons, if they ſeele their conſciences troubled with any weighty matter, to make a ſpeciall confeſſion, and to receive abſolution at the hands of the Prieſt; And then to be remembred, that every comming to the Communion, is as ſerious a thing as our tranſmigration out of this world, and we ſhould doe as much here, for the ſettling of our Conſcience, as upon our death-bed; And to be remembred alſo, that none of all the Reformed Churches have forbidden Confeſſion, though ſome practiſe it leſſe then others. If I ſubmit a cauſe to the Arbitrement of any man, to end it, ſecundùm voluntatem, ſayes the Law, How he will, yet ſtill Arbitrium eſt arbitrium boni viri, his will muſt be regulated by the rules of common honeſty, and generall equity. So when we lead men to this holy eaſe of diſcharging their heavy ſpirits, by ſuch private Confeſſions, yet this is ſtill limited by the law of God, ſo far as God hath inſtituted this power by his Goſpel, in his Church, and far from inducing amongſt us, that torture of the Conſcience, that uſurpation of Gods power, that ſpying into the counſails of Princes, & ſupplanting of their purpoſes, with which the Church of Rome hath been deeply charged.
And this uſefull and un-miſ-interpretable Confeſſion, which we ſpeake of,Adverſum me. is the more recommended to us, in that with which David ſhuts up his Act, (as out of S. Hierome, and out of our former tranſlation, we intimated unto you) that he doth all this Adverſum ſe, I will confeſſe my ſinnes unto the Lord, againſt my ſelfe; The more I finde Confeſſion, or any religious practiſe, to be againſt my ſelfe, and repugnant to mine owne nature, the farther I will goe in it. For, ſtill the Adverſum me, is Cum Deo; The more I ſay againſt my ſelfe, the more I vilifie my ſelfe, the more I glorifie my God. As S. Chry ſoſtome ſayes, every man is Spontaneus Satan, a Satan to himſelfe, as Satan is a Tempter, every man can tempt himſelfe; ſo I will be Spontaneus Satan, as Satan is an Accuſer, an Adverſary, I will accuſe my ſelfe. I conſider often that paſſionate humiliation of S. Peter, Exi à me Domine, He fell at Ieſus knees, ſaying, Depart from me for I am a ſinfull man, O Lord; Luk. 5.8.And I am often ready to ſay ſo, and more; Depart from me, O Lord, for I am ſinfull inough to infect thee; As I may perſecute thee in thy Children, ſo I may infect thee in thine Ordinances; Depart, in withdrawing thy word from me, for I am corrupt inough to make even thy ſaving Goſpel, the ſavor of death unto death; Depart, in withholding thy Sacrament, for I am leprous inough to taint thy fleſh, and to make the balme of thy blood, poyſon to my ſoule; Depart, in withdrawing the protection of thine Angels from me, for I am vicious inough to imprint corruption and rebellion into their nature. And if I be too foule for God himſelfe to come neare me, for his Ordinances to worke upon me, I am no companion for my ſelfe, I muſt not be alone with my ſelfe; for I am as apt to take, as to give infection; I am a reciprocall plague; paſſively and actively contagious; I breath corruption, and breath it upon my ſelfe; and I am the Babylon that I muſt goe out of,Gen. 32.10. Mat. 8.8. or I periſh. I am not onelyonly under Iacobs Non dignus, Not worthy the leaſt of all thy mercies; nor onelyonly under the Centurions Non dignus, I am not worthy that thou ſhouldeſt come under my roofe, That thy Spirit ſhould ever ſpeake to my ſpirit, (which was the forme of words, in which every Communicant received the Sacrament, in the Primitive Church, Lord I am not worthy that thou ſhouldeſt enter under my roofe;) Nor onelyonly under the Prodigals Non dignus, Luke 15.21.Not worthy to be called thy ſonne; neither in the filiation of Adoption, for I have deſerved to be diſ-inherited; nor in the filiation of Creation, for I have deſerved to be annihilated;Mark 1.7. But Non dignus procumbere, I am not worthy to ſtoop down, to fall down, to kneele before thee, in thy Miniſter, the Almoner of thy Mercy, the Treaſurer of thine Abſolutions. So farre doe I confeſſe Adverſum me, againſt my ſelfe, as that I confeſſe, I am not worthy to confeſſe, nor to be admitted to any acceſſe, any approach to thee, much leſſe to an act, ſo neare Reconciliation to thee, as an accuſation of my ſelfe, or ſo neare thy acquitting, as a ſelf-condemning. Be this the iſſue in all Controverſies, whenſoever any new opinions diſtract us, Be that ſtill thought beſt, that is moſt Adverſum nos, moſt againſt our ſelves, That that moſt layes flat the nature of man, ſo it take it not quite away, and blaſt all vertuous indeavours; That that moſt exalts the Grace and Glory of God, be that the Truth; And ſo have you the whole myſtery of Davids Confeſſion, in both his Acts; preparatory, in reſenting his ſinfull condition in generall, and ſurvaying his conſcience in particular; And then his Deliberation, his Reſolution, his Execution, his Confeſſion; Confeſſion of true ſins, and of them onelyonly, and of all them, of his ſins, and all this to the Lord, and all that againſt himſelfe. That which was propoſed for the ſecond Part, muſt fall into the compaſſe of a Concluſion, and a ſhort one, that is Gods Act, Thou forgaveſt the iniquity of my ſin.
This is a wide doore,2 Part. and would let out Armies of Inſtructions to you; but we will ſhut up this doore, with theſe two leaves thereof, The fulneſſe of Gods Mercy, He forgives the ſin and the puniſhment; And the ſeaſonableneſſe, the acceleration of his mercy, in this expreſſion in our text, that Davids is but Actus inchoatus, He ſayes he will confeſſe, And Gods is Actus conſummatus, Thou forgaveſt, Thou hadſt already forgiven the iniquity, and puniſhment of my ſin. Theſe will be the two leaves of this doore; and let the hand that ſhuts them be this And, this Particle of Connection which we have in the text, I ſaid, And thou didſt. For though this Remiſſion of ſin be not preſented here as an effect upon that cauſe of Davids Confeſſion, (It is not delivered in a Quia, and an Ergo, Becauſe David did this, God did that; for mans wil leads not the will of God, as a cauſe, who does all his acts of mercy for his mercies ſake) yet though it be not an effect, as from a cauſe, yet it is at leaſt as a conſequent from an occaſion, ſo aſſured, ſo infallible, as let any man confeſſe as David did, and he ſhall be ſure to be forgiven as David was. For though this forgiveneſſe be a flower of mercy, yet the roote growes in the Juſtice of God; If wee acknowledge our ſin,1 John 1.9. he is faithfull and juſt to forgive us our ſin; It growes out of his faithfulneſſe, as he hath vouchſafed to binde himſelfe by a promiſe, And out of his Juſtice, as he hath received a full ſatisfaction for all our ſins. So that this Hand, this And, in our Text, is as a ligament, as a ſinew, to connect and knit together that glorious body of Gods preventing grace, and his ſubſequent grace; if our Confeſſion come between and tie the knot, God, that moved us to that act, will perfect all.
Here enters the fulneſſe of his mercy,Plenitudo. Rev. 3 20. at one leafe of this doore; well expreſſed at our doore, in that Ecce ſto, & pulſo, Behold, I ſtand at the doore and knock; for, firſt he comes; here is no mention of our calling of him before; He comes of himſelfe; And then he ſuffers not us to be ignorant of his comming, he comes ſo, as that he manifeſts himſelf, Ecce, Behold; And then he expects not that we ſhould wake with that light, and look out of our ſelves, but he knocks, ſolicits us, at leaſt, with ſome noyſe at our doores, ſome calamities upon our neighbours; And againe he appeares not, like a lightning that paſſes away as ſoon as it is ſeene, that no man can reade by it, nor work by it, nor light a candle, nor kindle a coale by it, but he ſtands at the doore, and expects us; all day; not only with a patience, but with a hunger to effect his purpoſe upon us, he would come in, and ſup with us, Accept our diet, our poore endeavours; And then, would have us ſup with him, (as it is there added) would feaſt us with his abundant Graces, which he brings even home to our doores; But thoſe he does not give us at the doore; not till we have let him in, by the good uſe of his former grace; And as he offers this fulneſſe of his mercy, by theſe meanes before, ſo by way of Pardon, and Remiſſion, if we have been defective in opening the doore upon his ſtanding and knocking, this fulneſſe is fully expreſſed in this word of this Text, as our two Tranſlations, (neither departing from the naturall ſignification of the word) have rendred it.
The word is the ſame here, in Davids ſweetneſſe, as in Cains bitterneſſe, Gnavon; Poena. Gen 4.13.and we cannot tell, whether Cain ſpeake there of a puniſhment too great to be borne, or of a ſin too great to be pardoned; Nor which David meanes here; It fills up the meaſure of Gods mercy, if we take him to meane both. God, upon Confeſſion, forgives the puniſhment of the ſin; So that the juſt terror of Hell, and the imaginary terror of Purgatory, for the next World, is taken away; and for this World, what calamities and tribulations ſoever fall upon us, after theſe Confeſſions, and Remiſſions, they have not the nature of puniſhments, but they are Fatherly Corrections, and Medicinall aſſiſtances, againſt relapſes, and have their maine relation and proſpect upon the future.
For not onelyonly the ſin it ſelfe, but the iniquitie of the ſin, is ſaid to be forgiven;Iniquitas. God keeps nothing in his minde againſt the laſt day; But whatſoever is worſt in the ſin, the venome, The malignity of the ſin, The violation of his Law, The affrontings of his Majeſty reſiding in that Law, though it have been a winking at his light, a reſiſting of his light, the ill nature, the malignity, the iniquity of the ſin is forgiven. OnelyOnly this remaines, That God extinguiſhes not the right of a third Perſon, nor pardons a Murder ſo, as that he barres another from his Appeale: Not that his pardon is not full, upon a full Confeſſion, but that the Confeſſion is no more full, if it bee not accompanied with Satisfaction, that is, Reſtitution of all unjuſtly gotten, then if the Confeſſion lacked Contrition, and true ſorrow. Otherwiſe the iniquity of the ſin, and the puniſhment of the ſin, are both fully pardoned. And ſo we have ſhut one leafe of this doore, The fulneſſe; The other is the ſpeed, and acceleration of his mercy, and that leafe we will clap to, in a word.
This is expreſſed in this, David is but at his Dixit, and God at his Remiſit; PromptitudoDavid was but Saying, nay, but Thinking, and God was Doing, nay Perfecting his work. To the Lepers that cryed out for mercy, Chriſt ſaid, Go, ſhew your ſelves to the Prieſt;Luke 17.11. So he put them into the way; and they went, ſayes the text; and as they went, they were healed upon the way. No man comes into the way, but by the illumination, and direction of God, Chriſt put them into the way. The way is the Church; no man is cured out of the way; no man that ſeparates himſelfe from the Church; nor in the way neither, except he goe; If he live negligently, and truſt onelyonly upon the outward profeſſion; nor though he goe, except he goe according to Chriſt bidding; except he conforme himſelf to that worſhip of God, and to thoſe means of ſanctification, which God hath inſtituted in his Church, without ſingularities of his owne, or Traditions of other mens inventing, and impoſing. This, this ſubmitting, and conforming our ſelves to God, ſo as God hath commanded us, the purpoſing of this, and the endeavouring of this, is our Dixit in the Text, our ſaying that we will doe it, and upon this Dixit, this purpoſing, this endeavouring, inſtantly, immediately, infallibly follows the Remiſit, God will, God does, God hath forgiven, the iniquity, and the puniſhment of the ſin.
Therefore to end all, Poure out thy heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lament. 2.19.No liquor comes ſo clearly, ſo abſolutely from the veſſel, not oyle, not milk, not wine, not hony, as that it leaves no taſte behind; ſo may ſweet ſins; and therefore poure out, ſaies the Prophet, not the liquor, but the heart it ſelfe, and take a new heart of Gods making; for thy former heart was never ſo of Gods making, as that Adam had not a hand in it; and his Image was in it, in Originall ſin, as well as Gods in the Creation. As liquors poured out leave a taſte and a ſmell behinde them, unperfected Confeſſions (And who perfects his Confeſſion?) leave ill gottten goods ſticking upon thine heire, and they leave a taſte, and a delight to thinke, and ſpeake of former ſins, ſticking upon thy ſelfe; But poure out thy heart like water; All ill impreſſions in the very roote. And for the accompliſhment of this great Myſtery of Godlineſſe by Confeſſion, fixe thy Meditations upon thoſe words, and in the ſtrength of them, come now, (or when thou ſhalt bee better ſtrengthened by the Meditation of them) to the Table of the Lord, The Lord looketh upon men, And, if any ſay, I have ſinned,Job 33.27. and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not, he will deliver his ſoule from going down into the pit, and his life ſhall ſee light; and it is added, Loe all theſe things worketh God twice and thrice. Here is a fulneſſe of conſolation, firſt plenary, and here is a preſent forgiveneſſe; If man, if any man ſay, I have ſinned, God doth, God forgives; and here is more then that, an iteration, if thou fall upon infirmity againe, God will on penitence more carefully performed, forgive againe. This hee will doe twice, or thrice ſayes the Hebrew, our Tranſlation might boldly ſay, as it doth, This God will doe often. But yet if God finde dolum in ſpiritu, an over-confidence in this, God cannot be mocked; And therefore take heed of truſting upon it too often, but eſpecially of truſting upon it too late. And whatſoever the Holy Ghoſt may meane by the twice or thrice, be ſure to doe it once, doe it now, and receive thy Saviour there, and ſo as he offers himſelfe unto thee in theſe his Ordinances this day, once, and twice, and thrice, that is, in prayer, in preaching, in the Sacrament. For this is thy trinity upon earth, that muſt bring thee to the Trinity in heaven: To which Trinity, &c.