N00802:668
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.
4. In this way there is hope for you, and in […] ⟨p. 243⟩other. Thus only can his spotless Holiness be vindicated, and his Justice shine forth, when you declare that not for your sakes, but for his own name sake he doth it: when you so apply to the Righteousness of Christ alone for his favour; and to such as thus do, he hath opened a door of hope: he hath said, that he that confesseth and forsaketh shall find mercy, Prov. 28.13. He hath proclaimed an invitation to such, Jer. 3.12, 13. Thus the Publican came and was Justified: thus the Prodigal came and was received into favour: and if you seek redress in any other way, your wound may be skinned over, but never healed.
4. In this way there is hope for you, and in 〈…〉 ⟨p. 243⟩other. Thus only can his spotless Holiness be vindicated, and his Justice shine forth, when you declare that not for your sakes, but for his own name sake he doth it: when you so apply to the Righteousness of Christ alone for his favour; and to such as thus do, he hath opened a door of hope: he hath said, that he that confesseth and forsaketh shall find mercy, Prov. 28.13. He hath proclaimed an invitation to such, Jer. 3.12, 13. Thus the Publican came and was Justified: thus the Prodigal came and was received into favour: and if you seek redress in any other way, your wound may be skinned over, but never healed.
2. To the Converted. You that are in a pardoned state, this Exhortation belongs to you also, and there is never an one of you but may have occasion for making use of it. Remember there is none of us but is daily liable to sin, whiles a deceitful heart within, and a tempting Devil, and a sinning world without, are giving us provocation: and if we are drawn into sin, we are thereby exposed to trouble, it makes a wound, and we may look for pain. The Spirit of God will put us to trouble in order to a kindly repentance; and Satan will molest us, seeking to drive us to despair; and when it is so, the only way in which we can look for stable relief is in a right acknowledging of our sins to God. And here,