dishonour on the divine perfections; and particularly as it is opposite
to the holiness and purity of God, and a contempt cast on his law, which
expressly forbids it, and a disregarding the threatenings denounced
thereby against those who violate it, and renders us liable to his
wrath, as a sin-revenging Judge, pursuant to the intrinsic demerit
thereof: And therefore it is justly styled _an evil thing and bitter_;
the only thing that can be called a moral evil; and it is certainly
bitter in the consequences thereof.
_2dly_, We are to confess sin with humility, shame, confusion of face,
and self-abhorrence; and that more especially, by reason of the vile
ingratitude there is in it, as committed by those who are under the
greatest engagements to the contrary duties.
_3dly_, Sin is to be confessed with the hope of obtaining forgiveness
through the blood of Christ, as laying hold on the promises of mercy,
which are made to those who confess and forsake it, Prov. xxviii. 13.
and, with an earnest desire, to be delivered from the prevailing power
thereof, by strength derived from Christ.
[3.] We shall now consider what sins we are to confess before God; and
these are, either the sin of our nature, or those actual transgressions
that proceed from it.
_1st_, The sin of our nature. As fallen creatures, we are destitute of
the image of God; and, having contracted corrupt habits, by repeated
acts of rebellion against him, all the powers and faculties of our souls
are vitiated thereby, and we not only indisposed and disinclined to what
is good, but naturally bent to backslide from God, and to commit the
greatest abominations, if destitute of his preventing, restraining, or
renewing grace: Thus the apostle says, _I know that in me, (that is, in
my flesh) dwelleth no good thing_, Rom. vii. 18. And this is to be
considered as what has universally defiled and depraved our nature; and
therefore we ought to cry out with the leper, _Unclean, unclean_, Lev.
xiii. 45. or, as the prophet say, _From the sole of the foot even unto
the head, there is no soundness in us, but wounds, and bruises, and
putrifying sores_, Isa. i. 6. We are to consider it as that which
insinuates itself into our best duties; and it is like the fly in the
precious ointment; and it is of such a nature, that when we have been
enabled to gain some advantage against it, it will afterwards recover
strength. Notwithstanding all our endeavours to the contrary. It is like
an incurable disease in the body, which, though we endeavour to keep it
under for a while, yet it will prevail again, till the frame of nature
is demolished, and thereby all diseases cured at once: Nevertheless,
when we confess and are humbled for this propensity, that is in our
nature to sin, we are to pray and hope, that the prevailing power
thereof may be so far weakened, that, by the principle of grace,
implanted in regeneration, and excited by the Spirit, in promoting the
work of sanctification, though it dwells in us it may not entirely have
dominion over us, or we be thereby denominated the servants of sin.
_2dly_, We are to confess the many actual sins that we daily commit,
with all their respective aggravations; sins of omission and commission,
both of which are contained in the apostle’s confession; _The good that
I would do, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do_, Rom.
vii. 19. Our sinful neglects of duty are numberless; we are to confess
our not having redeemed our time, but spent it in those trifles and vain
amusements that profit not; particularly if we have misimproved the very
flower and best part of our time and strength, and not remembered our
Creator in the days of our youth. This Job reckons the principal ground
and reason of the evils that befal him in his advanced age, when he
says, _Thou writest bitter things against me; and makest me to possess
the iniquities of my youth,_ Job xiii. 26. And we are humbly to confess
our not having improved, and, thereby, lost many opportunities for
extraordinary service, either to do, or to get good: Thus the prophet
says, _Yea, the stork the heaven knoweth her appointed times, and the
turtle, and the crane, and the swallow observe the time of their coming,
but my people know not the judgment of the Lord_, Jer. viii. 7. We are
also to confess our neglecting to comply with the calls and invitations
of the gospel; upon which account we are said, _to receive the grace of
God in vain,_ 2 Cor. vi. 1. _or not to know the time of our visitation,_
Luke xix. 44. but when God has _called, we have refused; when he has
stretched out his hand, no man regarded, but have set at nought all his
counsel, and would none of his reproof_, Prov. i. 24, 25. We are also to
confess our neglect of public and secret duties, or worshipping of God
in a careless indifferent manner; as the prophet represents the people,
saying, _Behold, what a weariness is it, and ye have snuffed at it,
saith the Lord of Hosts; and ye have brought that which was torn, and
the lame and the sick; should I accept this at your hands?_ Mal. i. 13.
We are also to confess our neglect of relative duties, in not
instructing those under our care, nor reproving them for sin committed,
nor sympathizing with the afflicted, nor warning those who are going out
of God’s way; by which means a multitude of sins might have been
prevented, whereby many have been ruined through our sinful neglect.
As for sins of commission, which are also to be confessed; these are
either such as were committed before or after our conversion to God; the
former of which contain a disowning his authority, or right to
obedience; the latter, an ungrateful disregard to, or forgetfulness of
the greatest benefits received from him. We are also to confess those
sins which are contrary to the moral law, or the very light of nature;
which we are often guilty of: And, that we may be furnished with matter,
and give scope to our thoughts and affections therein, it may be of use
for us to consider the sins forbidden under each of the Ten
Commandments, which have been before particularly insisted on. We ought
also to confess the various aggravations of sin; and, to assist us
therein, those things that are contained in a foregoing answer[103], may
be of some use to us, especially if we make a particular application
thereof to our own case, and observe how far we have reason to fall
under a sense of guilt, or charge ourselves with crimes of the like
nature.
Moreover, we are to confess the sins we have committed against the
engagements or grace of the gospel; the low thoughts we have sometimes
had of the person of Christ, his love to us, or the benefits we have
been made partakers of from him, while we have been ready to say, as the
daughters of Jerusalem are represented speaking, _What is thy beloved
more than another beloved,_ Cant. v. 9. and how much we have hardened
our hearts against him, refusing to submit to his yoke, or bear his
cross; how often we have been ashamed of his cause and interest,
especially when called to suffer reproach for it. Have we not sometimes
questioned the truth of his promises, refused to submit to his
righteousness, and depend upon it alone for justification, while we have
had too high thoughts of ourselves, glorying and valuing ourselves upon
the performance of some moral duties, which we have put in the room of
Christ?
We ought to confess how much we have opposed him in all his offices; not
depending on him as a prophet to lead us in the way of truth and peace,
but have leaned to our own understanding, and therefore have been left
to pervert, disbelieve, or, at least, entertain some doubts about the
great doctrines of the gospel; or, if our minds have been rightly
informed therein, yet we have not made a practical improvement thereof,
for our spiritual advantage. Have we not opposed him as a priest, and
neglected to set a due value on that atonement he has made for sin, not
improving his intercession for us, who is entered into the holy place,
made without hands, to encourage us to come boldly to the throne of
grace? Have we not also refused to submit to him as king of saints, or
seek protection from him against the assaults of our spiritual enemies?
These things are to be confessed by us in prayer; and that with such a
sense of our own guilt, that we ought to acknowledge ourselves to be,
(as the apostle says concerning himself,) _the chief of sinners,_ 1 Tim.
i. 15.
I am sensible that many will be ready to conclude, that much of what has
been said concerning sins to be confessed, is applicable to none but
those that are in a state of unregeneracy; and, among them, few can say,
that they are the chief of sinners, unless they have been notoriously
vile and scandalous in the eye of the world; and that the apostle Paul,
when he applies this to himself, has a peculiar reference to what he was
before his conversion.
But to this it may be replied; that it is impossible we should know so
much of the sins of others, together with their respective aggravations,
as we may of those that have been committed by ourselves. And if we have
not been left to commit those gross and scandalous sins, which we have
beheld in them with abhorrence, this is not owing to ourselves, but the
grace of God, by which we are what we are; which, if we had been
destitute of, we should have been as bad as the worst of men; and if our
hearts have been renewed and changed thereby, so that we are kept from
committing those sins that are inconsistent with a state of grace; yet
there are very heinous aggravations attending those we have reason to
charge ourselves with; whereby we have acted contrary to the experience
we have had of the efficacious influence of the Holy Spirit, and have
been guilty of very great ingratitude against him, that has laid us
under the highest obligations. Thus concerning confession of sin, when
drawing nigh to God in the duty of prayer.
(2.) We are now to consider another part of prayer, namely, that we are
therein thankfully to acknowledge the mercies of God: Thus the Psalmist
says, _Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with
praise; be thankful unto him, and bless his name,_ Psal. c. 4. And
elsewhere, _I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving; and will
call upon the name of the Lord,_ Psal. cxvi. 17. that is, I will join
prayer and praise together. Nothing is more obvious, than that favours
received ought to be acknowledged; otherwise we are guilty of that
ingratitude which is one of the vilest crimes. Not to acknowledge what
we receive from God, is, in effect, to deny our obligation to him; which
will provoke him to withhold from us those other mercies which we stand
in need of.
This duty ought to be performed at all times, and on all occasions: Thus
the apostle says, _In every thing by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God,_ Phil. iv. 6.
This is evident, in that there is no condition of life but what has some
mixture of mercy in it; and that this may be more particularly
considered, we may observe, that the mercies we receive from God, are
either outward or spiritual, common or special; the former of these he
gives to all without distinction; as it is said, _The Lord is good to
all, and his tender mercies are over all his works,_ Psal. cxlv. 9. And
elsewhere, he is _kind unto the unthankful, and to the evil,_ Luke vi.
35. _and maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth
rain on the just and on the unjust,_ Matt. v. 45. The latter sort of
mercies he bestows on the heirs of salvation, in a covenant-way, as the
purchase of the blood of Christ, and a pledge of farther blessings which
he has reserved in store for them: There are mercies which we have in
hand, or in possession, and others which we have in hope or in
reversion: Thus the apostle speaks of the _hope_ which is _laid up for_
the saints _in heaven,_ Col. i. 3, 5. which he _thanks_ God for in his
prayer for the church.
Again, the mercies of God may be considered either as personal or
relative; the former we are more immediately the subjects of; the latter
affect us so far as we stand related to others, for whose welfare we are
greatly concerned, and whose happiness makes a very considerable
addition to our own.
[1.] We are to express our thankfulness to God for personal mercies; and
accordingly we are to bless him for the advantages of nature, which are
the effects of divine goodness: Thus the Psalmist says, _I will praise
thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made,_ Psal. cxxxix. 14. Though
the human nature falls very short of what it was at first, when the
image of God was perfectly enstamped on all the powers and faculties of
the soul; and it is not what it shall be when brought to a state of
perfection in heaven: Yet there are many natural endowments which we
have received from God, as a means for our glorifying him, and answering
the end of our being, in the whole conduct of our lives: And,
_1st_, As to what concerns the blessings of providence, which we have
received in every age of life. In our childhood and youth we have great
reason to be thankful, if we have had the invaluable blessing of a
religious education, and have been kept or delivered from the pernicious
influence of bad examples, from whence that age of life oftentimes
receives such a tincture as tends to vitiate the soul, and open the way
for all manner of sin, which will afterwards insinuate itself into, and
prevail, like an infectious distemper, over all the powers and faculties
thereof. What reason have we to bless God if we have been favoured with
restraining or preventing grace, whereby we have been kept from youthful
lusts, which are destructive to multitudes, and lay a foundation for
their future ruin; and especially if it has pleased God to bring us
under early convictions of sin; so that we have experienced in that age
of life, the hopeful beginnings of a work of grace, which is an effect
of more than common providence! We ought to take notice, with great
thankfulness, of the methods of divine grace, if we have been early led
into the knowledge of the first principles of the oracles of God,
especially if they have made such an impression on our hearts, that we
can say, with good Obadiah, _I thy servant, fear the Lord from my
youth,_ 1 Kings xviii. 12.
Again, we are to express our thankfulness for the mercies which we have
received in our advanced age, when arrived to a state of manhood; and
accordingly are to bless him for directing and ordering our settlement
in the world, in those things more especially that relate to our secular
callings and employments therein, and the advantages of suitable society
in those families in which our lot has been cast, as well as the many
instances of divine goodness in our own. We ought also to bless him for
succeeding our industry and endeavours used, to promote our comfort and
happiness in the world, together with that degree of usefulness which it
has pleased God to favour us with, therein. We ought also to bless him
for carrying us through many difficulties that lay in our way, some of
which we have been almost ready to think insurmountable; as also for
bringing us under the means of grace, in which the providence of God is
more remarkable, in those who have not been favoured with a religious
education in their childhood; and more especially if these means have
been made effectual to answer the highest and most valuable ends.
There are other mercies which some have reason to bless God for, who are
arrived to old age, which is the last stage of life, wherein the frame
of nature is declining and hastening apace to a dissolution. These, I
say, have reason to be thankful, if they have not, as it were, outlived
themselves, wholly lost their memory and judgment, by which means they
would have been brought back again, as it were, to the state of
childhood, as some have been; or, if old age be not pressed down beyond
measure, with pain and bodily diseases, or a multitude of cares and
troubles about outward circumstances in the world, which would tend to
embitter the small remains of life, which has not much strength of
nature to bear up under great troubles, nor can those methods be made
use of, whereby others, without much difficulty, are able to extricate
themselves out of them: But they, of all others, have most reason to
bless God, who can look back on a long series of usefulness, in
proportion to the number of years they have lived; so that that promise
is fulfilled to them, _They shall still bring forth fruit in old age;
they shall be fat and flourishing_, Psal. xcii. 14. This is more than a
common mercy, and therefore requires a greater degree of thankfulness,
when it may be said of them, _The hoary head is a crown of glory, being
found in the way of righteousness_, Prov. xvi. 31. and grace keeps equal
pace with age; and they have nothing to do but to wait for a release,
from a careful, vain, uneasy life to heaven. Thus concerning the
occasions we have for thankfulness in every age of life.
_2dly_, We are now to consider the reason that we have to be thankful in
the various circumstances or conditions of life; particularly,
_1st_, When we have a great measure of outward prosperity, which is more
than many enjoy; which calls for a proportionable degree of
thankfulness, especially if it be sanctified and sweetened with a sense
of God’s special love, so that it is a pledge and earnest of better
things reserved for us hereafter. When we have the good things of this
life for our conveniency, that our passage through the world may be more
easy and comfortable to us; and yet we have ground to hope that this is
not our portion, or that we are not like those whom the Psalmist speaks
of, and calls _the men of the world, who have their portion in this
life_, Psal. xvii. 14. or, like the rich man in the parable, to whom it
was said, _Son, remember that thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good
things_, Luke xvi. 25. We have reason to bless God when outward
prosperity is a means of our glorifying him, and being more serviceable
to promote his interest, and not a snare or occasion of sin, when it is
not like the _prosperity of fools_, which has a tendency to _destroy
them_, Prov. i. 32. or when what is said concerning that murmuring
generation of men, whom the Psalmist speaks of, that _lusted exceedingly
in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert_: so that though _he
gave them their request, he sent leanness into their soul_, is not
applicable to us, Psal. cvi. 14, 15. Again, when we enjoy the outward
blessings of providence, and, at the same time, live above them; so that
our hearts are not too much set upon them; but we are willing to part
with them, when God is about to deprive us of them, or take us from
them; and when outward enjoyments are helps, and not hindrances to us in
our way to heaven. These are inducements to the greatest thankfulness,
and ought to be acknowledged to the glory of God.
_2dly_, We have reason to be thankful, though it pleases God to follow
us with many afflictions and adverse providences in the world: These are
not, indeed, to be reckoned blessings in themselves; nevertheless, they
are not inconsistent with a thankful frame of spirit; especially,
_1st_, When we take occasion from hence to be affected with the vanity,
emptiness, and uncertainty of all outward comforts, which perish in the
using.
_2dly_, When afflictive providences have a tendency to humble and make
us submissive to the divine will, so that we are hereby led to have a
deep sense of sin, the procuring cause thereof. Thus Ephraim speaks of
his being chastised by God, and, at the same time, _ashamed and
confounded_, as _bearing the reproach_ of former sins committed by him,
Jer. xxxi. 18, 19. or, when those sins, which before prevailed, are
hereby prevented, and we enabled to mortify them: Thus the Psalmist
says, _Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now I have kept thy
word_, Psal. cxix. 67. And when God is pleased to cause his grace to
abound as outward troubles abound. 2 Cor. iv. 16. and when the want of
outward mercies makes us see the worth of them, and puts us upon
improving every instance of the divine goodness, as a great inducement
to thankfulness.
_3dly_, We have reason to be thankful under afflictions, when we have a
comfortable hope that they are evidences of our being God’s children,
interested in his special love, Heb. xii. 7. so that we have ground to
conclude, that he is hereby training us up, and making us more meet for
the heavenly inheritance, so that we can say with the apostle, _Our
light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory_, 2 Cor. iv. 17.
[2.] We are to express our thankfulness for those mercies which we call
relative, or for the blessings that others enjoy, in whose welfare we
are more immediately concerned. As it is the duty of every one to desire
the good of all men; so we ought to bless God for the mercies bestowed
on others as well as ourselves. The relation we stand in to others, is
either more general or extensive, and, in this respect, it may include
in it all mankind; and accordingly we are to be thankful for the mercies
which our fellow-creatures receive from the hand of God, inasmuch as
hereby the divine perfections are magnified: And, as for those who
receive the blessings that accompany salvation, the ends of Christ’s
death, and the dispensation of the gospel, are hereby attained; and
whatever mercies God bestows on others, we bless him for them, as taking
encouragement to hope that he will bestow the same blessings upon us,
when we stand in need of them.
As for those who are related to us in the bonds of nature, or as members
of the family to which we belong, for whose welfare we are more
immediately concerned, we may, in some measure, reckon the mercies they
enjoy, our own, and therefore should be induced to bless God, and be
thankful for them, as well as for those which we receive in our
persons.—There is also another relation, which is more large and
extensive, namely, that which we stand in to all the members of Christ’s
mystical body, whom the apostle calls _the household of faith_, Gal. vi.
10. and, as such, supposes them to be entitled to our more special
regard: Accordingly we are to express our thankfulness to God, in
prayer, for all the mercies they receive, especially those that are of a
spiritual nature; inasmuch as herein Christ is glorified, and his
interest advanced, which ought to be dearer to us than any thing that
relates to our own private or personal interest, as the Psalmist speaks
of his preferring Jerusalem’s welfare above _his chief joy_, Psal.
cxxxvii. 6. And that which farther inclines us to do this, is, because
we hope that we shall be made partakers of the same blessings, whereby
others will have occasion to bless God on our behalf. Thus concerning
the inducements we have to thankfulness for blessings received, either
by ourselves or others.
I shall conclude this head by considering, that thankfulness, which
ought to be a great ingredient in prayer, is always to be accompanied
with the exercise of other graces, whereby we are disposed to adore and
magnify the divine perfections that are displayed in the distribution of
those favours which we bless him for; together with an humble sense of
our own unworthiness of the least of those mercies which we enjoy, and
an earnest desire that we may be enabled, not only to do this in words,
but to express our thankfulness to him by such a frame of spirit as is
agreeable thereto.
There are two things more, contained in the answer we have been
explaining, without the due consideration whereof, the duty of prayer
would be very imperfectly handled, namely, its being an offering up of
our desires to God in the name of Christ, and by the help of the Spirit:
But since these are particularly insisted on in some following answers,
I have purposely waved the consideration of them at present.
Footnote 103:
_See Quest._ CLI.
Quest. CLXXIX., CLXXX., CLXXXI.
QUEST. CLXXIX. _Are we to pray unto God only?_
ANSW. God only being able to search the hearts, hear the requests,
pardon the sins, and only to be believed in, and worshipped with
religious worship, prayer, which is a special part thereof, is to be
made by all to him alone, and to none other.
QUEST. CLXXX. _What is it to pray the name of Christ?_