Fellowship with God, Sermon 19
SERMON XIX·
1 Joh. 1.9.
If we confesse our sins he is faithful, and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousnesse.
Vers. 10.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, &c.
ANd who will not confesse their sin, say you? Who doth not confesse sins daily, and therefore, who is not …orgiven and pardoned? But stay, and consider the matter again, take not this upon your first light app…ehensions, which in Religion are commonly empty, vain, and superficial; but search the Scriptures, and your own hearts, that ye may know wh…t confession means. It may be said of that external custome of confessi…n that many of you have, that the Lord hath not required it, Sacrifices and burnt offerings thou wouldest not, some external submissions and confession…, which ye take …or compensation …or sins and offences against God, these, I say, are but abomination to the Lord; but a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise, Psal. 51.16, 17. And lo, I come to do thy will, I delight in it, Psal. 40.7, 8. When external professions and confessions, are separated from the internal contrition of the heart, and godly sorrow for sin; and when both internal contrition, and external profession and confession are divided from con…ormity, o… study of conformity to Gods will, then they a…e in no better acceptance with God, then these external sacrifices which God rejected, though he had required them, because they were disjoyned from the true life of them, and spiritual meaning, that is, faith in a Mediator, and love to obedience. If confession flow not from some contrition of heart, if there be not some inward spring of this kind, the heart opened, and unfolding its very in-side before God, breaking in pieces, which makes both pain or sense, and likewise gives the clearer view of the inward parts of the heart; and if it be not joyned with affection to Gods will and Law, earnest love to new obedience, it is but a vain, empty, and counterfeit confession, that denyes it self. I suppose, a man confesse sin which he feels not, or forsakes not, in so doing he declares that he knows not the nature of sin, he may know such an action, that it is commonly called sin, and, it may be, is shamed and censured among men, and therefore he confesseth it, but while he confesseth it without sense or …eeling, he declares that he takes it not up as sin, hath not …ound the vilenesse and loathsomnesse of the nature of it, nor beheld it as it is a violation of the most high Lords Laws, and a provocation of his glorious holinesse. Did a soul view it thus, as it is represented in Gods sight, as it dishonours that glorious Majesty, and hath manifest rebellion in it against …, and a… it de…iles and pollute… our spirits, he could not, I say, thus look upon it, but he would …in… some inward soul-abhorrency and displicence at it, and himself too. How monstruous would it make him in his own sight? It could not but affect the heart, and humble it in secret before God; whereas your forced and strained confessions made in publick, they are meerly taken on then, and p…oceed from no inward principle, there is no sh…dow of any …oul-humiliation in secret, but as some use to put on sackcloath when they come to make that pro…ession, and put it … when they go out; so you put on a habit of confe…sion in publick, and put it off you when you go out of the Congregation. To ly mou…ning be…ore the Lord, in your secret retirements, that you are strangers to. But I wonder how you should thus mock God, that you will not be as serious and re…l in confessing, as in sinning? Will ye sin with the whole man, and confesse only with the mouth? Will ye act sin with delight, and not con…esse it with a true sorrow that indeed affects the heart? Now, do you honour God by confession, when the manner of it declares, that you feel not the bitternesse o… sin, and conceive not the holinesse and righteousnesse of God, whom you have to do withall? Even so, when you confesse sin, which you do not fors…ke, you in so far declare that you know not sin, what it is you confesse, and so, that you h…ve mocked him who will not be mocked; for, what a mockery is it, to con…esse these …ault…, which we have no solid ef…ctual purpose to re…o…m? To vomit up our sins by con…ession, that we may with more desire and lust lick up the vomit again, and to p…etend to wash, …or nothing else, but to retu…n to the puddle and defile again. My brethren, out of the same fountain comes not bitter water and sweet, Jam. 3.11. Since that which ordina…ily proceeds from you, is bitter, unsavoury to God and man, carnal, earthly, and sensual, your wayes are a displayed banner against Gods will, then lay your account, all your professions and acknowledgments are of the same nature, they are but a little more sugared over, and their inward nature is not changed, as un…cceptable to God, as your sins are.
I would give you some characters out of the Text, to discover unto you the vanity and emptinesse of your ordinary consessions. The conf…ssion of sin must be particular, universal, perpetual or constant, Particular, I say, for there a…e many thousands who con…esse that they a…e sinners, and yet do not at all confesse their sins. For, to conf…sse sins, is to confesse their own real, actual guiltinesse, that which they indeed have committed, or are inclined to do. So the true and sincere confession of a repenting people is expressed, 1 King. 8.38. What prayer or supplication soever be made by any man which shall know the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands, then bear thou in Heaven, and forgive every man whose h…a…t th…u knowe…t. Now consider w…ether o… not you be thus a…qu…inted with your own hea…s and way…, as to know your particular plague and predominant. A…e you not rather wholly strangers to your selves, especially the plague o… your hea…ts? There are few that keep so much as a Record o… Register of their actions done against Gods Law, or their neglects of his will, and therefore when you are particularly posed about your sin…, or the challenge of sin, you can speak nothing to that, but that you never knew one sin by another; that is indeed, you never observed your sins, you never knew any sin, but contented your self with the t…adition you …eceived that you were sinners; but if any man be used t… …eflect upon his own wayes, yet gene…ally, the m…st part of men are altogether strangers to thei… hearts; if they know any evil of themselves, it is at most, but something done, or undone, some commission or omission, but nothing of the inward fountain of sin is discovered I be…eech you then, do not deceive your selves with this general acknowledgment that you are sinners, while in the mean time your real particular sins are hid from you, and you cannot choose but hide in a generality from God. Certain…y, you are far from forgivenesse, and that bles…e…nesse of which David speaks, Psal. 32. for this …elongs to the man that hideth not his sins, in whose heart is no guile. And this is the plainnesse and sincerity of the heart, rightly to discern its own plagues, and unfold them to him. David, no doubt, would any time have confessed that he was a sinner, but ma…k how heavy the wrath of God was on him for all that, because he came not to a plain, ingenuous, and humble acknowledgment of his pa…ticular sins. I confessed my s…n, and mine iniquity I hid not. While you con…esse only in gene…al terms, you confesse others sins rather then yours, but this is it, to descend into our own hearts, and find out our just and true accusation, our real debt, to charge our selves as narrowly as we can, that he may discharge us fully, and forgive us freely.
Next, I say, confession must be universal, that is, of all sin, without partiality, or respect to any sin. I doubt if a man c…n truly repent of any sin, except he in a manner repent of all sin; or truly forsake one sin, except there be a divorcement of the heart from, and forsaking of all sin: therefore the Apostle saith, if we confess our sins, not sin simply, but sins, taking in all the body and collection of them; for it is opposed to that, if we say we have no sin, &c. Then there lyes a necessity upon us to confesse what we have, we have all sin, and so should confesse all sins. Now, my meaning is not, that it is absolutely necessary that a soul come to the particular knowledge, and acknowledgment of all his sins, whether of ignorance, or infirmity, nay, that is not possible, for who can understand his errours? (saith David) cleanse thou me from secret sins, Psal. 19.12. There are many sins of ignorance, that we know not to be sins, and many escapes of infi…mity, th…t we do not advert to, wh…ch otherwise we might know. Now I do not impose that bu…den on a soul, to conf…sse every individual sin of that kind, but this certainly must be, there must be such a discovery of the nature of sin, and the loathsomnesse of it in Gods fight, and the hainous guilt of it, as may ab…se and humble the soul in hi… presence; there must be some distincter and clearer view of the dispositions and lusts of the heart, then men attain generally unto; and withall, a discovery of the holy and spiritual meaning of Gods Law, which may unfold a multitude of transgressions, th…t are hid from the world, and make sin to abound in a man… sight …nd sense; (for when the L…w enters, sin abounds) and to close up this, as the…e are many sins now discovered unto such a …, which lay hid before, the light having shined in upon the darknesse; and above all, the desperat wickednesse of the heart is presented, so there is no sin kno…n and discerned, but there is an equal, impartial sorrow for it, and indign…tion against it. As a believer hath respect to all Gods comm…nds, and loves to obey them, so the penitent soul hath an impa…tial hatred of all sin, even the dearest and most beloved idol, and desires unfeignedly to be rid of it. Hence your usual publick confession… of sin, are wipt out of the number of true and sincere confessions, because you preten… to repent of one sin, and in the mean time, neither do ye know a multitude of other sins that prevail over you, nor do you mo…n for them, nor forsake them. Nay, you do not examine your selves that way, to find out the temper of your hearts, or tenor and course of your wayes. You pretend to repent for drunkenness, or such like, and yet you are ordinary c…sers, swearers, liars, railers, neglecters of prayer, prophane…s of the Sabbath, and such like, and these you do not withal mourn for. In sum, he that mou…ns only for the sin that men censures, he knoweth and confesseth no sin sincerely; if you would indeed return unto God from some grosse evils, you must be divorced in your affections from all sin.
Then this confession should be perpetuated and continued, as long as we are in this life, for that i… imported by comparing this vers. with these it stand… between. If we say we have no sin, if we say at any time, while we are in this life, if we imagine or dream of any such perfection he…e, we …lie. Now, what should we do then, since sin is alwaye… lodging in our mort…l bodies, during this time of necessary abode beside an ill neighbour? What should be our exercise? even this, Confesse your sin… ▪ confesse, I say, as long as you have them, draw out this, the length of that: Be continually groaning to him under that body of de…th, and mou…ning under your daily infi…mities and failings; that stream of corruptions runs continually, …et the stream of your contrition and confession …un as uncessantly; and there is an…ther stream of Christs blood, that runs constantly too, to cleanse you. Now herein is the discovery of the vanity and deceitfulnesse of many of your conf…ssi…ns, publick and private, the cu…rent of them soon d…ies up, there is no perpetuity or constancy in them, no daily humbling or abasing your selves, but all that is, is by fits and st…rts, upon some transient conviction…, or outward censures and rebukes: …nd thus men quickly cover and bury their sins in oblivion and secu…ity, and forget what manner of person… they were, they are not under a daily, impa…i…l examination of their wayes, takes notice of nothing but some solemn and g…osse escapes, and these are but a short time under their view.
Now, let me apply a little to the incouragement of poor souls, who being inwardly burdened with the weight of their own guiltiness, exoner themselves by confe…sion in his bosome; as you have two suit…, and two desires to him, one, that your sins may be forgiven, another, that they m…y be subdued; so he hath two solemn ingagements and tyes to satisfy you; one, to forgive your sin…, and another, to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. The soul that is truly penitent, is not only desi…ous of pardon of sin, that is not the chief or only design o… such a soul in application to Christ; but it is withal to be purified from sin, and all unrighteousnesse, and to have ungodly lusts cleansed away; and herein is the great probation of su…h an ones reality, it will not suffice or satisfie such an one, to be assured o… delivery from wrath and condemnation, but he must likewise be redeemed from sin, that it have no dominion over him; he desires to be …reed from death, that he may have his conscience withall purged from dead works, to serve the living God, Heb. 9.14. He would have sin blotted out o… a… accusing conscience, that it may be purged out of the affections of the heart, & he would have his sins washed away for this end especially, that he may be w…shed from his sins, Rev. 1.5. Now, as this is the great desire and design of such a heart, in which there is no guile, to have sin purified, and purged out of us, as well as pardoned, so there is a special tye and obligation upon God our Father by promise, not only to pardon sin, but to purge from sin, not only to cover it with the garment of Christs righteousnesse, and the breadth of his infinit love, but also, to cleanse it by his Spirit, effectually applying that blood to the purifying of the heart. Now where God hath bound himself voluntarily, and out of love, do not ye loose him by unbelief, for that will bind you into a prison: but labour to receive these gracious promises, and to take him bound as he offer…. Believe, I say, that he will both forgive you, and in due time will cleanse your heart from the love and delight of sin; believe his promise, and ingagement by promise to both, and this will set to a seal to his truth and faithfulnesse. There is nothing in God to affright a sinner, but his justice, holinesse, and righ…eousnesse, but unto thee, who in the humble confession of thy sins, flies in to Iesus Christ, that very thing which did discourage thee, may now incourage thee, and …bolden thee to come, for he is just and faithful to forgive sins ▪ hi… Justice being now sati…fied, is ingaged that way, to forgive, not to punish.