flows out of a contrite heart. I mean, not a bare, formal, empty
and all thy fiery indignation, upon this lust and that lust; Lord, bend thy bow, and shoot all the arrows of thy displeasure, into the very heart of my strong corruptions; Lord, when wilt thou rain hell out of heaven upon this proud heart, this unbelieving heart, this unclean heart, this worldly heart, this froward heart, this treacherous heart of mine, &c. I have read of Hannibal, that when he saw a pit full of the blood of his enemies, he cried out with much content and delight, Oh beautiful sight! So when a penitent Christian sees his spiritual enemies, his strong corruptions, all in a gore-blood, oh how delightfully and rejoicingly does he cry out, Oh beautiful sight! Oh blessed sight, that ever I have seen! When the children of Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore, then they sang a song of praise, Exod. 15. The application is easy. O sirs! let no man deceive his own immortal soul; for it is most certain, that repentance to life hath all these lively companions attending of it. Sound repentance, and the companions of it, are born together, and will live and continue together till the penitent soul changes earth for heaven, grace for glory. And let this much suffice for the first part of true repentance, &c.
2. The second part of true repentance lies in confession of sin, which flows out of a contrite heart. I mean, not a bare, formal, empty confession, such as is common amongst the worst of sinners, as that we are all sinners, and stand in need of a Saviour, God help us! God be merciful unto us! &c.; but of such a confession of sin as ariseth from a true sight and full sense of sin, and from the due apprehensions of a righteous law that is transgressed, and a holy God that is provoked, &c. When tongue and heart goes together; when the tongue speaks out of the abundance of the heart; when the tongue is the faithful interpreter of the heart, freely, ingenuously and humbly acknowledging iniquity, transgression, and sin; and the penitent
judging himself worthy of death, of wrath, of hell, and unworthy of the least mercy and favour from God, &c.
Now such a confession as this is you shall find in repenting sinners; and if you look again, you shall find those persons so confessing, to be under the capacity of the promise of the forgiveness of their sins, &c.
[1.] First, You shall find repenting sinners confessing their sins: Ezra 9:6, 'O my God, I am ashamed, and blush to lift up my face unto thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.' Ver. 10, 'And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,' &c. Ps. 51:3, 'I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.' Ver. 4, 'Against thee, thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight.' Dan. 9:4, 5, 'I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, &c.; we have sinned and committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts, and from thy judgments,' &c. Ver. 8, 'O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of face, as at this day.' Luke 15:18, 'I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee;' ver. 19, 'And am no more worthy to be called thy son,' &c. 1 Cor. 15:9, 'For I am the least of all the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.' 1 Tim. 1:13, 'Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious,' &c. Isa. 53:6, 'All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.' I might easily produce a hundred other scriptures to prove that repenting sinners are confessing sinners, but let these suffice, &c.
[2.] Secondly, If you please to cast your eyes upon other scriptures, you shall find these penitent confessing sinners to be expressly under the promises of the forgiveness of sins: 1 John 1:9, 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.' Ps. 32:5, 'I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.' Lev. 26:40–42, 'If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; and that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember.' 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. Only acknowledge thine iniquity.' And observable is that prayer of Solomon, 1 Kings 8:47–50, 'If they shall bethink themselves, and repent, and make supplication to thee, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness; then hear thou their prayer, and forgive thy people that have sinned against thee.'
Quest. But what are the properties or qualifications of true penitential confession of sin?
Ans. They are these eight that follow.
(1.) First, It is free, it is voluntary not forced, not extorted. Nehemiah, Ezra, Job, David, Daniel, Paul, &c., were free and voluntary in the confession of their sins, as all know that have but read the Scripture. The true penitent confesses his sins with much candour, ingenuity,
and freedom of spirit. He is as free in his confession of sin, as he has been free in the commission of sin. His confessions are like water which runs out of a spring with a voluntary freeness, but the confessions of wicked men are like water that is forced out of a still with fire. Their confessions are forced and extracted merely from sense of pain and smart, or from fear of punishments, &c. Pharaoh never confessed his sin till God brought him to the rack, nor Saul till he was in danger of losing his crown and kingdom, nor Balaam till he sees the angel stand with his drawn sword ready to slay him, nor Judas till horror of conscience and the pangs of hell had surprised him, and taken fast hold on him.2 Wicked men cast out their sins by confession, as mariners do their wares in a storm, wishing for them again in a calm. The confessions of wicked men are commonly extorted or squeezed out, either by some outward trouble, or by some inward distress; but penitential confession is free and ingenuous, arising from an inward detestation of sin, and from the contrariety of the heart to sin; and, therefore, were there no rod, no rack, no wrath, no hell, the true penitent would very freely and readily confess his sins. When God is most free in bestowing of mercies, then are they most free in confessing their iniquities, Hosea 14:1–4. Look, as that is the best wine that flows from the grape with least pressing, and as that is the best honey which drops from the honeycomb without crushing; so those are the best confessions that flow, that drop freely, voluntarily from the soul, &c.
(2.) Secondly, True penitential confession is full as well as free. That confession is not sincere that is not full, Lam. 1:18, 19. God loves neither halting nor mincing confessions. These undid the pharisee, Luke 18:11. As penitential confessions are not extorted, so they are not straitened. Sin must be confessed in its particular species and parts; all known sins must be confessed fully, plainly, particularly, as you may see by turning to these scriptures, Lev. 26:40–42, and
19:21; Judges 10:10; Ps. 51; 1 Sam. 12:19; 1 Tim. 1:13; Acts 26:10, 11; Dan. 9:5–17; Lev. 16:21, 22, &c. Some there be that deny their sins, with the harlot: Prov. 30:20, 'Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.' And others there be that father their sins on others, as Adam did, Gen. 3:12; and as Eve did, ver. 13; and as Aaron did, Exod. 32:22; and as Saul did, 1 Sam. 15:22. And many there are that hide their wickedness, that conceal their wickedness, as that proud pharisee did, Luke 18:11, 12. That expression of the prophet Hosea, chap. 10:13, 'You have ploughed wickedness,' is rendered by the Septuagint, 'You have concealed wickedness;' and, indeed, there is nothing more common to a wicked heart, than to keep close his sin, than to cover and hide his transgressions. And, certainly, this is that sore disease that our first parents were sick to death of, almost six thousand years ago; and, therefore, it is no wonder if we are all infected with it. Man by nature is a vain-glorious creature, apt to boast and brag of the sins that he is free of, but unwilling to confess the sins that he is guilty of. There are no men so prone to conceal their own wickedness, as those that are most forward to proclaim their own goodness. There are many that are not ashamed to act sin, who yet are ashamed to confess sin; but certainly of all shame, that is the most shameful shame, that leads a man to hide his sins. But now the true penitent, he makes conscience of confessing small sins as well as great sins, secret sins as well as open sins, Ps. 90:8, 19:12. David confesses not only his great sins of murder and adultery, but he confesses also his self-revenge intended against Nabal, and of his knife being so near Saul's throat, when he cut off the lap of Saul's garment. A true penitent is much in confessing and lamenting over that secret pride, that secret fleshliness, that secret worldliness, that secret hypocrisy, that secret vain glory, &c., that is only obvious to God and his own soul. But it is quite otherwise with wicked men; for they confess their grosser sins, but never observe their lesser sins;
they confess their open sins, but never lay open their secret sins. Cain confesses the murdering of his brother, but never confesses his secret enmity, that put him upon washing his hands in his brother's blood. Pharaoh confesses his oppression of the children of Israel, but he does not confess the pride of his heart, nor the hardness of his heart. Judas confesses his betraying of innocent blood, but he never confesses his covetousness, that put him upon betraying of the Lord of glory. And others have confessed their apostasy, who have never confessed their hypocrisy that hath led them to apostasy, &c. Well, this is certain, that those little sins, those secret sins, that never break a sinner's sleep, do often break a believer's heart.
(3.) Thirdly, As true penitential confession is full, so it is sincere, it is cordial; it is not a feigned, nor a formal, nor a mere verbal confession, but an affectionate confession. It is a confession that has the mind, the heart, the soul, as well as the lip in it. The penitent man's confession springs from inward impressions of grace upon his soul, he feels what he confesses, and his affections go along with his confessions. The poor publican smote upon his breast and confessed. Look, as the sick man opens his disease to his physician, feelingly, affectionately; and as the client opens his case to his lawyer, feelingly, affectionately; so the penitent opens his case, his heart to God, feelingly, affectionately. Cold, careless, verbal, formal, customary confessions are no small abominations in the eye of God, Jer. 12:2. Such men's confessions will be their condemnation at last, their tongues will one day cut their throats. Though confession to men is a work of the voice, yet confession to God must be the voice of the heart. Sometimes the heart alone is sufficient without the voice, as you may see in Hannah, 1 Sam. 1:13–15; but the voice is never sufficient without the heart, as you may see in that Isa. 29:13. Such who make confession of sin to be only a lip labour, such, instead of offering the calves of their lips as the prophet requires, Hosea 14:2,
do but offer the lips of calves! Heart-confessions, without words, shall be effectual with God, and carry the day in heaven, when all formal, verbal confessions, though they are never so eloquent or excellent, shall be cast as dung in sinners' faces, Isa. 1:12–16. Mary Magdalene weeps, and sighs, and sobs, but speaks never a word, Luke 7:38; and yet by her heart-confessions she carries it with Christ, as is evident by his answer to her: Luke 7:48, 'He said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven thee.' Penitent souls confess sins feelingly, but wicked men's confessions make no impression upon them; their confessions run through them as water runs through a pipe, without leaving any impression at all upon the pipe. Wicked men do no more taste nor relish the evil of sin, the poison of sin, the bitterness of sin in any of their confessions, than the pipe does taste or relish the water that runs through it. Such who confess sin formally, or rhetorically, and yet love sin dearly, heartily, shall never get good by their confessions. Certainly such confessions will never reach the heart of God, that do not reach our own hearts; nor such confessions will never affect the heart of God, that do not first affect our own hearts. Such as speak very ill of sin with their tongues, and yet secretly wish well to sin in their hearts, will be found at last of all men the most miserablest. But,
(4.) Fourthly, As penitential confession is sincere and cordial, so it is distinct and not confused. The true penitent has his particular and special bills of indictment, he knows his sins of omission, and his sins of commission; he remembers the sins that he hath most rejoiced and delighted in; he cannot forget the sins that have had most of his eye, his ear, his head, his hand, his heart; the by-paths in which he has most walked, and the transgressions by which God has been most dishonoured, his conscience most wounded, and his corrupt nature most pleased and gratified, are always before him, Ezra 10:3. An implicit confession is almost as bad as an implicit
faith; wicked men commonly confess their sins by wholesale, We are all sinners; but the true penitent confesses his sins by retail, Ps. 51:3. Though it cannot be denied but that in some cases a general confession may be penitent, as you see in the publican, 'God me merciful to me a sinner,' Luke 18:13; yet it must be granted that a true penitent cannot content nor satisfy himself with a general confession. And therefore David confesses his particular sins of adultery and blood-guiltiness, and Paul particularizeth his sins of blasphemy, and persecution, and injuriousness against the saints, 1 Tim. 1:13. And more you have of this in that Acts 26:10, 11, 'Which thing I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them; and I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.' So Judges 10:10, 'And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.' 'We have sinned,' there is their general confession; 'we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim,' there is their distinct and particular confession, both of their apostasy and idolatry. And so 1 Sam. 12:19, 'And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God, that we die not, for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king.' They were discontented with that government that the Lord had set over them, and they would need be governed by a king, after the mode of other nations; and this sin they confess distinctly and particularly before the Lord and Samuel. And so David, in that 1 Chron. 21:17, 'And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? Even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done?' Thus that princely prophet confesses that particular sin that he then lay under the guilt of. And so Zaccheus makes a particular confession; he does
as it were point with his finger at that wrong and injustice that he had been guilty of: 'Behold, Lord, half my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.' Thus you see that true penitents make a particular confession of their right-eye sins, and of their right-hand sins; and indeed, what is confession of sin but a setting our sins in order before the Lord? And how can this be done but by a distinct and particular enumeration of them? But to prevent mistakes, this must be taken with a grain of salt, this must be understood with this limitation; we are to confess our sins distinctly, particularly, so far as we know them, so far as we are acquainted with them. There are many thousand sins which we commit that we know not to be sins, and there are many thousand sins committed by us that cannot be remembered by us. Now certainly it is impossible for us to recount or confess those sins that we know not, that we remember not; so that our particular confessions can only reach to known sins, so far as we can call them to mind; for indeed our particular acts of sin are innumerable; they are 'more in number than the hairs of our head;' and indeed we are as well able to tell the stars of heaven, and to number the sands of the sea, and to recount all the sparing mercies, the pitying mercies, the preventing mercies, the succouring mercies, the supporting mercies, and the delivering mercies of God, as we are able to tell, to number, to recount, the individual particular acts of sin that we are guilty of; yet so far as the knowledge and memory of a penitent Christian reaches, so far his confession reaches. But now, wicked men confess sin in the general, in the lump; as Pharaoh, 'I have sinned;' and their confessions are commonly confused, and at random. When and where do you find wicked men confessing their sins distinctly or particularly before God or man? This is none of the least of their miseries, that they have not a clear, distinct, particular view of their own corruptions and abominations. But,
(5.) Fifthly, The true penitent does not only distinctly and particularly confess his sins, but he does very highly aggravate his sins, by confessing not only the kinds and acts, so far as he knows and remembers them, but the circumstances of them also, Ps. 32:5, Lev. 16:21. There are sometimes some circumstances that may somewhat lessen a penitent man's sins. Now these he readily and easily passes over. But then there are other circumstances which do exceedingly heighten and aggravate his sins, and that makes them more heinous and dangerous; and these he carefully and faithfully acknowledges. The penitential confessions recorded in the Old and New Testament are full of exaggeating expressions, as is evident in these instances: Ezra at once heightens and aggravates their sins by this circumstance, that they had been committed against manifold experiments that they had had both of the severity and also the mercy of the Lord, Ezra 9; and so does Nehemiah also, Neh. 9. The like instance you have in Daniel, chap. 9:5, 6, 'We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts, and from thy judgments; neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.' In these words you have seven circumstances that Daniel useth in confessing of his and the people's sins, and all to heighten and to aggravate them. First, 'We have sinned;' secondly, 'We have committed iniquity;' thirdly, 'We have done wickedly; fourthly, 'We have rebelled against thee; fifthly, 'We have departed from thy precepts; sixthly, 'We have not hearkened unto thy servants; seventhly, 'Nor our princes, nor all the people of the land.' These seven aggravations which Daniel reckons up in his confession, are worthy of our most serious consideration. The same spirit you may find working in Peter: Mark 14:72, 'When he thought thereon he wept;' or nearer the original, 'When he cast all these things one upon another, he wept.' Ah wretch! that ever I was born,
that ever I should deny the Lord that bought me; that ever I should deny him who hath not only externally, but also internally, called me; that ever I should deny him that made me an apostle, that fed me at his table, that beautified me with his grace, and that in the mount shewed me some glimpses of his glory; that ever I should deny him who has brought me out of a state of death and wrath, into a state of life and love; that ever I should deny him that has been the best, the wisest, the holiest, the tenderest, the faithfullest, and the noblest master that ever man served. Ah wretch that I am! he forewarned me of this sin beforehand, that I might be not only cautioned but armed against it, and yet I denied him. I promised him beforehand, that I would never deny him, that I would never forsake him, that I would never turn my back upon him, and yet like a base coward, I have denied the Captain of my salvation; yea, this very night, and no longer ago, did I say again and again, that I would not deny him, and yet now, even now, I have most shamefully denied him; yea, I told him, that though all others should deny him, yet would not I deny him, and yet in all the world there is not such another to be found, that has so sadly, so desperately denied him, as I have denied him, and that before a silly maid; nay, more beast that I am! to my denying of him, I have added a most incredible lie, saying, I know not the man, when there was not a man in all the world that I was so well acquainted with as I was with Christ, feeding constantly at his table, and drinking constantly of his cup, and living constantly upon his purse, and waiting constantly upon his person, and being a constant eye-witness of all the famous miracles that were wrought by him; nay, yet more monster that I am, I did not only lie, but I also bound that lie with a hideous oath; I did not only say that I knew not the man, but I also swore that I knew not the man; nay, yet more than all this, I did not only basely deny him, I did not only tell an incredible lie against my own light and conscience, I did not only bind a fearful lie with a hideous oath, but I also fell a-cursing and
damning of myself:—for so much the Greek word αναθεματίζειν imports;—I wished that the curse, the wrath, or vengeance of God might fall upon me if I knew the man, I wished myself separated from the presence and glory of God if I knew the man; and woe and alas to me! all this I did when my Lord and Master was near me, yea, when he was upon his trial; yea, and yet more, when all the world had forsaken him; yea, and yet more, when I had the greatest and loudest call that ever I had to have stood by him, and to have given my testimony for him. And thus Peter, casting up all these circumstances and aggravations together, and meditating seriously on them, 'he went out and wept bitterly.' Another famous instance of this you have in Paul, Acts 26:10, 11. In these two verses the apostle lays down no less than eight aggravations of his sins, and all to greaten and heighten them, that his soul might be the more ashamed and humbled in him, &c.
First, That they were not the worst, but the best of men, viz., saints; that they were not sinners but saints; that they were not drunkards, swearers, adulterers, murderers, oppressors, Sabbath-breakers, but saints; saints by calling, saints by their high and holy calling, saints by profession, saints by a gospel-conversation. 'The saints have I cast into prison.'
Secondly, To cast a man into prison for theft, for murder, for perjury, is no iniquity. Ay, but says he, many have I cast into prison for 'professing the name of Jesus of Nazareth.' Oh! it is dreadful to persecute men merely for professing of Christ! and yet this I did. Though their profession and practice went together; though they lived as they professed; though I had nothing against them, but in the matters of their God, yet upon that very single account I did persecute them.
Thirdly, If it had been been but one, or two, or three, or five, or ten saints that I had persecuted, the matter had not been much. Oh! but they were a great number; 'many of the saints did I cast into prison.' I have been a cruel ravening wolf, that have sucked the blood, not of a few, but of many of the precious lambs of Christ; I have neither spared nor pitied any sex, but have broken into every house, haling and dragging both men and women to prison. Acts 8:3, 'As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women, committed them to prison.'
Fourthly, Though he had cast them into prison, yet if he had given them but some liberty in a prison, as Joseph had, and as others have had, and as himself once had when he begot Onesimus in his bonds, Philem. 10, and when Onesiphorus oft refreshed him, and was not ashamed of his chain, 2 Tim. 1:16, &c., or as the primitive Christians had, the matter had not been so great. Oh! but I kept them close prisoners; 'Many of the saints did I shut up in prison.' I shut them up from friends, from relations, and from all comfortable accommodations; and thus he further aggravates his sin, Acts 9:1, 2.
Fifthly, If he had rested there, if he had proceeded no further, the matter had not been so bad; Oh! 'but I gave my voice against them to put them to death.' My heart and my hand was not only against them, but my tongue also. If I could not kill them with my hand, I was ready and willing to kill them with my tongue; if the casting voice fell upon me, I would be sure to give it against them; I never wanted a word to do them mischief. If they wanted a word, instead of a knife, to cut their throats, I would be sure to lend them one.
Sixthly, He rises yet higher, for he does not only severely punish their bodies, but he does what he can to damn their souls; I compelled them to blaspheme, like that Italian, who first made his enemy deny
God, and then stabbed him, and so at once murdered both body and soul. As there is no love to soul love, so there is no cruelty to soul cruelty; and as there is no mischief to soul mischief, so there is no murder to soul murder; and yet in this murder had Paul a hand. It is sad to compel a man to bear a burden beyond his strength, to lie in chains, to forsake his own country, &c., but it is infinitely more sad to compel a man to sin, to the least sin; but saddest of all to compel a man to blaspheme, 'And yet this I did,' says Paul, &c.
Seventhly, He yet further aggravates his sin by his madness, by his exceeding madness against the saints, in those words: 'and I was exceeding mad against them.' He was mad with rage and wrath, he was exceedingly mad with passion and fury against the dear saints of God. Madmen think madly, and madmen speak madly, and madmen act madly against those they are mad with; and so did he against the saints. The Alcoran saith, that God created the angels of light, and the devils of flame. Certainly, as God's children are children of the light, so Satan's children are furious children, wrathful children, children of the flame, children of madness; and such a one was Paul, &c.
Eighthly, and lastly, 'I did persecute them to strange cities;' them I did not kill I did scatter; I forced them to leave both house and home; them whom God had joined together I put asunder: I made the husband run one way, and the wife and children another way, and all of them glad to hide their heads in a corner.
And thus you see, that true penitents, in the confession of their sins, do clothe their sins with the highest aggravations imaginable. A penitent in his confession of sin cries out, Oh the sparing mercies, the preventing mercies, the succouring mercies, the supporting mercies, the renewed mercies, the delivering mercies that I have with
a high hand sinned against! Oh that clear light! oh that free love! oh that gospel grace! oh those bowels of mercy that I have sinned against! Oh the fatherly corrections, the dreadful warnings, the high resolutions, the serious protestations, the frequent vows and promises that I have desperately sinned against! Oh the checks of conscience, the rebukes of conscience, the lashes of conscience, the wounds of conscience, and the frequent motions of the Spirit, and strivings of the Spirit, that I have sinned against! &c. But now wicked men confess their sins slightly, carelessly, triflingly. They are careful and skilful to hide their sins, to cloak their sins, and to extenuate and lessen their sins; and with the unjust steward, for an hundred to set down fifty, Luke 16:6. All wicked men do commonly flatter themselves, that either their sins are not sins, when indeed they are, or that they are not great and grievous sins, when indeed they are, or that they are not so great and grievous as other men's sins are, when indeed they are more grievous and heinous than other men's sins are; so far are they from aggravating of their sins. The truth is, wicked men are so far from aggravating of their sins, that they are still extenuating of them, and that by fathering of them, sometimes upon their constitutions, sometimes upon bad company, sometimes upon their callings, sometimes upon Satan, and sometimes upon chance, as they call it, &c. But no more of this; enough is as good as a feast.
(6.) Sixthly, The true penitent confesses his sins humbly, sorrowfully. In his confessions he appears before the Lord with ropes about his neck, as Benhadad's servants, and with tears in his eyes. His confessions savour of contrition of heart, and not of ostentation of spirit. Contrition of heart, and confusion of face, is the common result of a penitential confession, Lev. 23:27, 28. David waters his couch with his tears, Ps. 6:6; and he mingles his meat with his tears, Ps. 42:3; and Ezra and Daniel confess their sins with wet eyes and
blushing cheeks, Ezra 9, Daniel 9. Confession without contrition neither pleaseth God nor profiteth man. Confession is the language of the tongue, contrition is the language of the heart, and God looks for both. The publican does not only confess his sins, but he smites also upon his breast, as a man full of grief and sorrow, Luke 18:13. Lying in the dust, and rending of garments, and putting on sackcloth and ashes, were of old required of those that confessed their iniquities. The spirit of repentance is a spirit of mourning. Penitential confessions are commonly attended with grief in the heart, and with shame in the face: Ps. 38:18, 'For I will declare mine iniquity, I will be sorry for my sin. He tells you not only that he will declare his iniquity, but he tells you also, that he will be sorry for his sin. The same spirit you may find working in Jacob, Hosea 12:4; yea, he had 'power over the angel and prevailed, he wept and made supplication unto him.' The people of God, in the day of their confession, do not only say, We have sinned, but they also draw water and pour it out before the Lord in token of contrition, 1 Sam. 7:6. Every sin is as a sword in a penitent man's bosom, and therefore whilst confessions are in his mouth, you shall mostly find either tears in his eyes or sorrow in his heart. And indeed, true confession of sin is many times rather a voice of mourning than a voice of words. Sometimes a penitent man's eyes will in some sort tell what his tongue can in no sort utter. Many times the penitent is better at weeping than he is at speaking: Ps. 39:12, 'Hold not thy peace at my tears.' Tears hath a voice as well as blood hath, and are very prevalent orators with God: Ps. 6:8, 'The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping.' Penitent tears are undeniable ambassadors, and they never return from the throne of grace without an answer of grace. Tears are a kind of silent prayers, which though they say nothing, yet they obtain pardon; they prevail for mercy, and they carry the day with God, as you may see in that great and clear instance of Peter. He said nothing, he confessed nothing that we read of, but 'went out and
wept bitterly,' and obtained mercy. That prescription that God gave to the leper in the law is worthy of your most serious consideration; it is in that Lev. 13:45, 'And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean.' In these words the leper stands charged with four things: (1.) to go in rent or torn garments, to note that there must be brokenness and sorrow of heart joined with confession of sin; (2.) to go bareheaded, and that partly that men might not mistake him, but mainly to shew his humility under his present misery; (3.) to put a covering upon his upper lip, some read it, upon his mouchaches. The Jews in their mournings used this ceremony among the rest, of covering their chin, mouth, mouchaches, all under the nose. Now, the use of this ceremony in lepers, was partly to preserve others from being infected by his loathsome breath, and partly to shew that God takes no pleasure nor delight in the breathings, the prayers of spiritual lepers, of wicked men,—God loves not to hear good words drop from an ill mouth,— and partly to note that shame that must be mingled with his sorrow. (4.) Twice to proclaim his own uncleanness, 'Unclean, unclean.' And thus you see that there was to be a close connection between the leper's confession and his contrition; and thus it is with the true penitent; he does not only cry out, Unclean, unclean, but he also rents and tears his garments, that is, he joins contrition to his confession.
But to prevent mistakes, and that I may not shoot an arrow, instead of giving a cordial, to the weak and weary soul, let me only give you this short hint, viz., that when the true penitent cannot pour out his soul in heart-melting confessions before the Lord, yet then he can mourn over his own hardness of heart. When he is at worst he can grieve that he cannot grieve, and mourn that he cannot mourn, and melt that he cannot melt, and break that he cannot break; and he can
bless God for every rod, and every stroke, and every word, and every work, and every ordinance, and every frown, and every reproof, and every cross, and every comfort that has the least tendency to the melting and mollifying of his soul. The true penitent always sets a very high price and value upon a broken heart, though he has not the happiness always to have his heart broken. I know that sometimes the penitent soul is so shut up, that if he might have all the world he cannot mourn; he can only sit down and sigh, and groan; nay, if all the joys and delights of heaven were to be bought for one single tear, he cannot shed it; and yet all this time he can grieve that he cannot grieve for sin, and he can be sorry that he cannot be sorry for sin; and without all peradventure this is in a measure true godly gospel sorrow for sin, &c.
But now wicked men confess their sins, but they never grieve for their sins. They confess their sins, but they are not ashamed of their sins; they confess their sins, but they cannot blush for their sins. Though men of good names, and of good natures, would be ashamed to be found doing of base things, things that are below them, that are not worthy of them, yet the generality of sinners are so bold and base, so ignorant, arrogant, and impudent, so frontless2 and graceless, &c., that they are no ways ashamed, no, not of those very sins that has put Christ to an open shame, yea, that has put the sun and moon to a blush. Most sinners in these days have brows of brass, and whores' foreheads, that cannot blush. They are so far from being ashamed of their sins, that they think it a shame and disgrace not to sin, not to swear, and whore, and curse, and be drunk, and profane Sabbaths, and despise ordinances; yea, there are many that are so far from being ashamed of their abominations, that they even glory in them, like those in that Philip. 3:19. They shew their sins as Sodom, they make both a sport of acting, and a jest of confessing their sins. Thus Austin confesseth that it was sometimes with himself before the
Lord wrought upon him; I was stricken with such blindness, as that I thought it a shame unto me to be less vile and wicked than my companions whom I heard boast of their lewdness, and glory so much the more, by how much they were the more filthy; therefore, saith he, lest I should be of no account, I was the more vicious; and when I could not otherwise match others, I would feign that I had done those things which I never did, lest I should seem so much the more abject, by how much I was the more innocent; and so much the more vile, by how much I was the more chaste. But for a close remember this, the true penitent knows, that the more God has been displeased with the blackness of sin, the better he will be pleased with the blushing of the sinner; and therefore he cannot but blush when either he looks upon sin within him, or God above him. But,
(7.) Seventhly, Penitential confession, it is believing and fiducial; it is mixed with some faith, though not always with a strong faith, Hosea 14:2. It is not like the confession of a malefactor to the judge, but like the confession of a child to his father, or like the confession of a sick man to his physician. As a penitent man has one eye of sorrow upon his sin, so he has another eye of hope upon pardoning grace. Thus David, though he had sinned greatly, yet he hangs upon free mercy, and begs his pardon believingly, Ps. 51. Thus Daniel, 'To the Lord our God belongs mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him,' Dan. 9:9. Thus Shechaniah, Ezra 10:2, 'And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land; yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.' If it were not for hope, the heart would break. There was hope among them that Israel would repent, and there was hope among them that God would have mercy upon their repentance. And the same spirit was working in the prodigal: 'I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have
sinned against heaven and before thee,' Luke 18:18. Though he was a prodigal, yet he would go to God as to a father, who knew how to pity and forgive the mourning and repenting child. When confessions of sin are mingled with hopes of mercy, and the soul draws near to God as a father, then the heart breaks most and melts and mourns most. That confession of sin that is not mixed with some hope of pardon, and with some faith in the mercy of God, is not penitential, but desperate. Cain in some sort confesses, but then he flies into the land of Nod, and there he falls a-building and planting, partly in contempt of the dreadful doom God had passed upon him, and partly to drown the noise of his conscience, and despairing of ever obtaining pardon in this world, or enjoying a house not made with hands in another world, Gen. 4:16, 2 Cor. 5:1, 2. Judas likewise confesses his most heinous sins, 'I have sinned in betraying innocent blood,' Mat. 27:3, 4; but having no hope of pardon, no faith in that innocent blood he had shed, he goes out and hangs himself. Judas had no faith to mingle with his confession; he confesses despairingly, not believingly, and so goes forth and strangles himself. Since Adam fell in paradise, there has not been one wicked man in the world, continuing in that state, that has ever mixed faith with his sorrows, believing with his confessing. It is only the penitent man that confesseth sin believingly, and that is pardoned graciously. The confessing penitent reasons thus with God: Lord, though I am a sinful creature, yet thou art a merciful God; though I am unworthy of mercy, yet thou forgivest sins freely; though my sins reach as high as heaven, yet thy mercies reach above the heavens; I am here ready and willing to accuse and condemn myself, and therefore be thou as ready and as willing to absolve me, and forgive me. O Lord! though my sins are very many, yet thy mercies are exceeding more; though I have multiplied my sins, yet thou canst multiply thy pardons; though I am a sinner, a very great sinner, yet there is mercy with thee, that thou mayest be feared and loved, served and trusted; and therefore
in the face of all my sins, provocations, and unworthiness, I will look up for mercy, and wait for mercy. But,
(8.) Eighthly, and lastly, True penitential confession is joined with reformation. That confession of sin that carries forgivenness of sin with it, is attended with serious desires, and earnest endeavours to reformation, Ps. 51:10; therefore forsaking of sin is annexed to confession of sin: Prov. 28:13, 'He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.' Confession of sin must be joined with confusion of sin, or all is lost. God will never cross the book, he will never draw the red lines of Christ's blood over the black lines of our transgressions, except confessing and forsaking go hand in hand. He that does not forsake his sin, as well as confess it, forsakes the benefit of his confession. And indeed, there is no real confession of sin, where there is no real forsaking of sin. It is not enough for us to confess the sins we have committed, but we must peremptorily resolve against the committing again the sins we have confessed. We must desire as freely to forego our sins, as we do desire God to forgive us our sins. Confession of sin is a spiritual vomit. Now you know, a man that is burdened in his stomach, is heartily willing to be rid of that load on his stomach that doth oppress nature; and so a man that is real in his confession of sin, is as heartily willing to be rid of his sin, that lies as a load upon his conscience, as any sick man can be heartily willing to be rid of that load that lies upon his stomach. The penitential confessor doth as heartily desire to be delivered from the power of his sins, as he does desire to be delivered from the sting and punishment of his sins. This is observable in the confession of good Shechaniah: Ezra 10:2, 3, 'We have trespassed against our God, and taken strange wives of the people of the land; now therefore let us make a covenant with Our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and those that
tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.' And this was the former practice of the children of Israel, who joined reformation with their confession, as you may see in that Judges 10:15, 'We have sinned;' ver. 16, 'And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the Lord: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.' That Job 34:31, 32, is observable, 'Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more; that which I see not, teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.' And the same spirit you may find working in those that were once given up to sorcery and witchcraft: Acts 19:18, 'And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.' Ver. 19, 'Many also of them which used curious arts, brought their books together, and burned them before all men.' Penitential confession leaves a holy awe and dread on the soul, to take heed of committing sins confessed. Though a godly man may, in an hour of temptation, or in a day of desertion, or in a season of God's withholding the gracious influences of heaven from falling upon his soul, commit a sin which he has seriously confessed and sadly bewailed, yet he retains in his course and practice such a holy fear and awe upon his heart, as in some measure proves armour of proof against future commissions of sin. But now wicked men are very ready, bold, and venturous to commit the same sins they have confessed, as you may see in Saul: one while you shall have him confessing his sinful injuries against David with tears; and soon after you shall find him pursuing of him in the wilderness of Ziph with three thousand chosen men at his heels. The same evil spirit was predominant in Pharaoh; one day you shall have him confessing his sin, and promising to let Israel go, and the next day you shall find his heart hardened, and he peremptorily resolved that Israel shall not go. And so the harlot made the confession of her sin to be but a provocation to more sin, Prov. 7:14. The wicked sometimes confess their sins, but they never forsake their sins; after