N00802:637
The truly blessed man
The truly blessed man: or, The way to be happy here, and for ever: being the substance of divers sermons preached on, Psalm XXXII. / By Samuel Willard, teacher of a church in Boston. N.E. ; [Five lines from Isaiah]
printed by B. Green for Michael Perry, 1700
Sermon › Right Confession, its nature and usefulness. DOCTRINE. › Proposition 6: PROPOSITION VI.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
1. Instead of confessing our Sins, we have sought to hide them. And this is a fault that not only Unregenerate men are guilty of, but the Godly too often are overtaken withal Either we seek to hide it from God by a vain presumption that he will not take notice of it; if not directly, yet indirectly ⟨p. 234⟩and by consequence; as the Psalmist Context, […] Or we seek to hide it from our own Consci•ences, by flattering our selves into a fond persuasion, that we have done nothing amiss, seeking to justify our selves, and nourishing an opinion that we are innocent: or by some sinful courses taken to hide it from men, whereby we increase our Guilt; as David did in the case of Bathsheba. Now this is the right course to pull troubles on our own minds; we can do nothing more directly to bring this distress upon us. Or,
1. Instead of confessing our Sins, we have sought to hide them. And this is a fault that not only Unregenerate men are guilty of, but the Godly too often are overtaken withal Either we seek to hide it from God by a vain presumption that he will not take notice of it; if not directly, yet indirectly ⟨p. 234⟩and by consequence; as the Psalmist Context, 〈…〉 Or we seek to hide it from our own Consci•ences, by flattering our selves into a fond perswasi•on, that we have done nothing amiss, seeking to justifie our selves, and nourishing an opinion that we are innocent: or by some sinful courses taken to hide it from men, whereby we encrease our Guilt; as David did in the case of Bathsheba. Now this is the right course to pull troubles on our own minds; we can do nothing more directly to bring this distress upon us. Or,
2. Instead of Confessing, we hope to make up all by a reformation of our own. There is such pride natural to us, that we had rather do any thing than abase our selves to a right confessing of our sins; and so, upon conviction that we have done amiss, we are apt to think that a little endeavour to amend this, by abstaining from the sin, and practising the contrary duty, will make up all again; and count it more credit to repair our selves in this way, than by an humble going to God for pardon, in a self-abasing acknowledgement of our vileness; this made them make such an enquiry,