I do not say that we can juftly stand upon this, or require thefe Terms of Reconciliation from our Brethren: But it is infinitely fit and reasonable that God should from his Creatures. We are bound to forgive one another; but God is not bound to forgive us. That which is in us an Act of Duty, is in him an Act of free Grace and Mercy. If therefore it be supposed that we are all Sinners towards God, and ftand in need of his Mercy, and that we shall not find Mercy without Repentance of our Sins, it will follow that our Repentance muft as well look backwards as forwards; that is to fay, we muft not only look to the reforming of our Life for the future, (for that can do no more than prevent the Displeasure of God for the Time to come) but we must also look to the undoing, as well as we can, our fore-paft Sins, in order to the obtaining God's Forgiveness of them. But this is no way in the World to be done, but by meekly, and humbly, and forowfully confeffing them.

And accordingly this is the Condition that God in Scripture every where requires, in order to the granting his Pardon and Mercy for our former Tranfgreffions. If we confess our Sins (fays St. John) he is 1 Joh. 1.9. faithful and juft to forgive us our Sins. And thus alfo David; I acknowledged my Sin Pfal.32.5. unto thee, and mine Iniquity I did not hide. I faid I will confefs my Sin unto the Lord, P 4

and

and fo thou forgaveft me the Iniquity of my

Sin. But this is not all that is to be faid for the Neceffity of Confeffion, as we have explained it For, in the fecond Place,

2. As no Man is qualified for the Mercy of God that doth not devoutly confefs his Sins, (because not to confefs is an Argument that the Man doth not truly repent) fo, if we do confider what is imported in Confeffion, we fhall be convinced that it is a Thing, that in the very Nature of it must needs, above all other Thing we can do, recommend us to God; for it is doing what Right we poffibly can to the feveral Attributes of God to which we have done Difhonour. If God had never commanded this Expreffion of Repentance, yet we should eafily have gathered from the Reafon of the Thing, that it is the beft, the most natural Compenfation we can make to God for the Breach of his Laws. Not that, in true speaking, there is any Compenfation, any Satisfaction to be made by us to God; Chrift, by his Sacrifice on the Crofs, hath done that for us; and that Satisfaction that he made, we humbly tender to God on our behalf, and pretend to no other. But this nevertheless we may fay, that by approaching to God with an hearty Senfe of our Sins, and confeffing them before him with truly contrite and penitent Hearts, we make the beff Reparation we are capable of, for the Affronts and Injuries which by our Sins

we

we have done to any of his Attributes. By thus accufing and condemning ourselves, we do Right to God's Sovereignty and abfolute Power, by acknowledging him to have both a Right and an Ability to punish us. We do Right likewife to his Goodness, fince we acknowledge that we have acted vilely and unworthily, and against our own Interests, in tranfgrefling his Laws, which we cannot but be fenfible are infinitely reasonable and good, and much for our Advantage to obferve. To his Omniprefence and Omniscience alfo we make fome Satisfaction, fince our Confeffion of our Faults fuppofeth that we have a Sense that God knows and taketh notice of all our Actions. In a word, by hearty and penitent Confeffion of our Sins, we both justify God, and give Glory to him. We may fay both thefe Things, because we have Warrant from Scripture for them. David, in the 51ft Pfalm, therefore makes a Confeffion of his Sins to God, That God might Ver. 4. be juftified in his Sentence, and clear when he is judged. And when Joshua exhorts Achan to confefs his Sin, tho' yet it was well enough known already in the Congregation, the Argument he ufeth to perfuade him, was, that this Confeffion was for the Glory of God. My Son, says he, give Glory to the Jom.7.19. Lord God of Ifrael, and make Confeffion unto

him.

This that I have faid is abundantly fufficient to fhew what great Reason there is, that Confeffion of Sins fhould be made fo indispensible a Condition of the Forgiveness of them.

I might add several other Confiderations, drawn from the great Benefits and Advantages that we ourselves do receive by the Practice of it; as for Inftance, the great Peace, and Comfort, and Satisfaction that it muft needs yield to an afflicted, troubled Mind, thus to have disburden'd itself of all its Loads and Incumbrances (as certainly, to a fenfible Spirit, the Confcience of Sin is of all others the greatest Burden.) So that upon this Acconnt God's obliging us to the Confeffion of our Sins is the greatest Mercy to us that can be. I might add also another Confideration, viz. the mighty Obligation that this Practice of Confeffion doth lay upon all of us to forfake the Sins we do thus confefs. Such an Obligation, that really we must be impudent if we can always confefs, and yet always return to the fame Sins again. So that upon this Account it must be acknowledged that it is as much for our Good, as for the Reafonableness of the Thing, that Confeffion of Sins is made fo neceffary a Part of Repen

tance.

But I fhall wave thefe Things, and proceed (by way of Application of what has been faid) to fay fomething of the Manner

in which we are to confess our Sins, and to give a few Directions about it.

The great Bufinefs that we have to take care of in the Exercise of this Part of Repentance, is, that we do deeply affect our felves with a Sense of the great Evil of Sin, and the Affront it puts upon the Divine Majefty; as alfo with a Sense of the infinite Obligations we are under to obey all the Laws of God, both upon the Account that they are fo juft and reasonable in themfelves, and likewife upon Account that God, by fo many Inftances of Kindness to us (as every one of us, if we would reflect, can give Thousands of Inftances to ourselves) hath laid fuch powerful and irresistible Engagements upon us to live up to a Conformity to them.

1. If now we be affected with a Senfe of thefe Things as we ought to be, we shall in the first place, whenever we approach to God to confefs our Sins, express a hearty. Sorrow for having offended fo good, fo kind, fo gracious a God, fo continual a Benefactor: For having tranfgreffed fuch righteous, fuch unexceptionable Laws, which were given us purely for our Benefit; and which we can never tranfgrefs but we act against ourselves and our own Interefts. We fhall blufh at our extreme Ingratitude to God, and fee our own Folly in fo unaccountably departing from him in any Inftances; and at the fame time we