The truly blessed man

4. That we seek this pardon in Christ's name, acknowledging our unworthiness of it. It is through Christ that we obtain forgiveness, and therefore it is to be sought in him, or for his sake: for it is through his Mediation that all this grace cometh to be communicated to us: and we shall never go on his account, till we find that we have no other account to go upon; as long as we have a righteousness or worthiness of our own, Christ is disregarded, Rom. 10.2, 3. That therefore must be rejected, that this may be sought after, Phil 3 9. Now all this involveth in it such a confession as we have been considering of, & cannot be without it.

11. This therefore is one great end of Gods bringing us into distress. Terrors of Conscience, and trouble of mind, are part of the Curse fallen upon man for sin; ⟨p. 232⟩and in the ungodly are often but the beginning of sorrows: but in Gods Elect, whether in order to Conversion, or after they were Converted, they are on a gracious design: and what is that but to make way for bringing them to a more settled and stable peace? we are very hard to be brought to confess & so give Glory to God; he is therefore put upon it to bring us into trouble, to terrify our Consciences, to make our Sins extremely bitter to us, that we may be excited to seek our peace of […]; and now he bringeth us upon our knees, ma•• us to open our hearts and mouths, in the deepest resentments, and most self abasing acknowledgements of out vileness by reason of sin, Hos. 5.15. Now God will attain his own design in and by it, if then he bringeth us into trouble, that we may be made to take the shame to our selves, and confess unto him; the next and proper way to get out of the trouble again, is by a ready and free Confession of the sin which hath procured this sore distress for us.