good Sir, behold my woeful and distressed case, he lays all open to provoke pity. 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 it's a mere babble; It were better to cry out our sins at the high Cross, than the confess in a Priests ear. Thou whisperest in the Priest's 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 may 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 due; when a man does thus (as the King's Attorney may frame a Bill of Indictment against himself) he justifies Almighty God. He gives God the honour of that justice, which at the present he executes in pouring horror into the conscience of the sinner, and hath farther in store in providing the Lake of fire and brimstone for the impenitent. 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, 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 God's 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.
good Sir, behold my woful and distressed case, he lays all open to provoke pity. 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 amplifie 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 it's a meer bable; It were better to cry out our sins at the high Cross, than the confess in a Priests ear. Thou whisperest in the Priest's 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 may be justified when thou speakest, and clear when thou judgest. Why so? Why, one main cause why we should confess sin, is to justifie 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 due; when a man does thus (as the King's Attourney may frame a Bill of Inditement against himself) he justifies Almighty God. He gives God the honour of that justice, which at the present he executes in pouring horrour into the conscience of the sinner, and hath farther in store in providing the Lake of fire and brimstone for the impenitent. 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, 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 〈non-Latin alphabet〉, this is the work of God's 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.
