A cabinet of choice jewels, or, A box of precious ointment being a plain…A cabinet of choice jevvels, or, A box of precious ointment being a plain…

Eighthly and lastly, True penitential confession is joined with reformation. That confession of sin that carries forgiveness of sin with it,¹ is attended with serious desires and earnest endeavours of reformation; 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's 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; 'tis 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 forgo 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 ⟨p. 253⟩to be rid of that •oad 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 lo•d 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 Sechaniah, 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 practise of the children of Israel, who joined reformation with their confession, as you may see in that,