Eighteen sermons preached in Oxford 1640 of conversion, unto God. Of redemption, & justification,…

So when thou comest before God in confession, canst thou not find out words to open thy self to Almighty God, not one word whereby thou mayst unlap thy sores, and beseech him to look on thee with an eye of pity? I must not mince my sins, but amplify and aggravate them, that God may be moved to pardon me; till we do thus, we cannot expect that God should forgive us. A great ado there is about auricular confession, but its a mere babble; It were better to cry out our sins at the high Cross, than to confess in a Priests ear. Thou whisperest in the Priests ear; what if he never tell it, or if he do, art thou the better? Come and pour out thy heart and soul before. Almighty God, confess thy self to him as David did, for that hath a promise made to it, Psal. 51.4. Against thee, thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mayst be justified when thou speakest, and clear when thou judgest. Why so? Why, one main cause why we should confess sin, is to justify God. When a sinner confesses, I am a child of wrath; and of death, if thou castest me into hell, as justly thou mayst, I have received but my ⟨p. 377⟩due: when a man does thus (as the Kings Attorney may frame a Bill of Indictment against himself) he justifies Almighty God: Thus did David, Against thee, against thee, &c. Now when we have thus aggravated our misery, comes the other part of begging, to cry for mercy with earnestness, and here's the power of the Spirit. It's one thing for a man to pray, and another thing for a man to say a prayer. 'Tis the easiest thing in the world to say a prayer, but to pray and cry for mercy as David did, in good earnest, to wrestle with God, to say, Lord, My life lies in it, I will never give thee over, I will not go with a denial; this is termed [Greek or Hebrew], this is the work of Gods Spirit. I named you a place in Jude ver. 20. where the Apostle exhorts, but ye beloved, build up your selves in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost; there's the prayer of the faithful, to pray in the Holy Ghost. And in the Ephesians we read of an Armour provided for all the parts of a mans body, yet all will not serve the turn, unless prayer come in as the chief, Ephes. 6.18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance, &c.