XCII.

SERM. which we have dedicated to Thy honour; but may they, in all their necessities, have this place to flee unto, this house of defence nigh at hand.

[Rev. 4.

11.]

[Luke 2. 14.]

May Thy sabbaths be here remembered, and devoutly kept; may Thy sacraments be here administered and received with great devotion; may the youth be instructed, the aged put in mind of their duty, and all made living temples of the Holy Ghost! that Thou mayest bless us, and that we in return may honour Thee, "for Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive honour, and glory, and power; for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are, and were created.”

"Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, good-will towards men," for ever and ever.

SERMON XCIII.

PREACHED AT A PUBLIC PENANCE.

THE POWER OF GOD'S MINISTERS TO REBUKE SINNERS
AND RECEIVE THEM ON REPENTANCE.

JOSH. vii. 19, 20.

And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto Him; and tell me now what thou hast done: hide it not from me. And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, aud thus and thus have I done.

THE very text I have chosen, (the occasion of which you may see at your leisure,) the text, I say, teacheth us after what manner we ought to treat such as have fallen into any grievous sins, in order to bring them to a sense of their

error.

My son, saith Joshua, the prince and leader of the people of Israel; My son !-to a man who for his sin had deserved and was immediately put to death.

And shall not we, with the same tenderness, and with greater, if it be possible, receive the confession of one of our fellow-Christians, who professeth, and we hope sincerely, to turn from his evil ways?

What passions other people have upon such occasions as these, I cannot tell; but for myself, I profess, so many mortifying and sorrowful thoughts come into my heart at such times as these, that those who undergo the shame of public penance scarce suffer more than I do, who have inflicted it. I consider myself as one, subject to the same infirmities, the

XCIII.

SERM. same temptations, and the same dangers, with those that have fallen; and that it is owing to the mere mercy of God, and not to my own wisdom, or strength, or holiness, that sin and hell have not got the dominion over me.

Such a sorrowful occasion as this even forces one to remember every man his own failings, which have been enough to have provoked God to have given the very best of us up [Exod. 34. to our own heart's lusts, but that God is gracious and merci6,7.] ful, long-suffering, forgiving iniquity and transgression.

Add to this, that as we are Christians, and all of one body, the Church; one member cannot suffer, but all the members must suffer with it.

We have a notable instance, in this very chapter, (of which the text is a part,) to what judgments a whole Church and people are liable for the transgressions of particular persons, until the crimes are confessed and punished.

The children of Israel are beaten by their enemies; their leader rends his clothes; the elders of Israel are under great sorrow and confusion, and know not which way to turn themselves for help; and all this, because of one man who had sinned, who had broken the command of God.

1 Cor. 5. 2. It was for this reason, amongst others, that St. Paul so sharply blames the Corinthians, that they had not bewailed the incestuous person, who had not only given scandal to all sober Christians, but would be a curse to them if he was not put away from among them. So that as no man is safe while notorious sins are unpunished, so in truth no good man can be unconcerned when such punishments are inflicted by the governors of the Church.

But we, that are God's ministers, have still greater reason to be very sensibly affected, when we consider, that perhaps it is for some fault of ours, some great neglect of our duty; and that it is to reprove us, that God has suffered any of our flock to fall into such dangerous and repeated crimes.

All these things laid together, you will all be satisfied, as well as I am, that tears will become the very best of us upon these occasions, and that every one for himself, as well as for this our brother, ought with penitent hearts, and humble spirits, to smite our breasts, and say, God be merciful unto us miserable sinners.

And oh that I could speak upon this sad occasion, and you would so seriously attend to what I say, that by the favour of God, we might, for the future, have fewer instances of the wickednesses we are subject to, when God gives any of us up to ourselves, for the hardness of our hearts.

My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto Him; and tell me now what thou hast done, hide it not from me."

From this exhortation we learn, first, that when any man has done foolishly, and broken the commands of God, the greatest glory he can give to God, and the only amends he can make, is to confess his fault, not only to God, but (where scandal has been given) unto man also.

"And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done."

From this humble and ready confession (even where his life was at stake) we may learn, secondly, that when a man's conscience is truly awake, and well informed, he will not scruple to confess his fault, and take shame to himself.

And these are the two things that I shall endeavour to convince you of in the discourse I am now going to make to you, which I pray God give His blessing to.

I. And first, I will shew you how we are said to glorify God in the public confession of our crimes.

We all profess to believe that God is Almighty, that He can do whatever He pleaseth; which belief ought in all reason to keep us from offending Him by breaking His laws; for, "by the fear of the Lord," (saith the Wise Man,) [Prov. 16. 6.] "men depart from evil." And whom shall we fear, if we fear not Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell?

But notwithstanding we all profess to believe the Almighty power of God, there are but too many who live without any fear of God in their hearts.

Now, when a sinner, struck with a sense of his guilt, and the terrors of the world to come, freely professeth that he fears the mighty power of God, and that God can punish him both in this world, and in the next, though he should escape in this; when this fear forceth him to confess those crimes, which otherwise he would be ashamed and afraid to

SERM. own; this is proper to convince all that hear and see him, XCIII. that God is indeed great, and greatly to be feared.

[Heb. 4.

13.]

Chap. 34. 21.

And God is glorified by such a confession, and men are made more careful, and fearful of offending against His Almighty power, while they see the greatest sinners humbling themselves before His Majesty; professing themselves overcome and conquered, and their stubborn hearts subdued by the fear of the Lord.

Secondly; we give glory to God, by confessing His infinite knowledge, and that nothing is hid from Him. When men are about to commit works of darkness, they hope such deeds will never come to light; and yet all the care they can take to conceal their crimes only serves to convince them, (if they have any grace,) that there is no place so secret, no contrivance so cunning, no night so dark, no corner so remote, but where the eye of the Lord is present, to bring to light the hidden things of darkness: and that all things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. When sinners, (I say,) after all their pains to conceal their crimes, are forced to own this, others will be apt to glorify God, and to acknowledge, with holy Job, "that His eyes are upon the ways of man, and that He understandeth all his goings."

Thirdly; sinners glorify God when they confess His justice in bringing upon them that shame, those punishments, those sorrows, which they have justly deserved; so that as men [Fs. 58. 11.] shall have reason to say, verily, there is a reward for the righteous; so shall they be forced to own, verily, there is a God that judgeth the world.

Fourthly; they that confess their faults, and turn from their evil ways, do glorify God, in acknowledging the wisdom of God, and the goodness of His laws. They have found by sad experience, and they freely confess it, that there is no solid happiness to be found in the ways of impiety; and that when men forsake the ways of God, they forsake their own happiness. And when we own this to the world, others will conclude, that however bewitching some sins may be, yet they are to be abhorred, forasmuch as bitterness will be the end of them, and sorrow, at the best, their reward.

Lastly; we give glory to God in confessing and forsaking our sins, inasmuch as we shew the power of faith in His