SERMON VI.

1 JOHN i. 9.

"IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS, HE IS FAITHFUL AND JUST TO FORGIVE US OUR SINS, AND TO CLEANSE US FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS."

WE took a general view last Sunday morning of the advantage of a Liturgy, and also of some of the peculiar excellencies of the one used in our Church, I propose as a continuation of the subject, to bring before you in succession, some of the principal parts of our Liturgy, in the hope that the consideration of them may be the means of leading us all to value it more highly, and to enter more deeply into the spirit of every part of that sacred Service whenever we make use of it.

We shall begin with that which is the first and one of the most important of our public prayers— General Confession. The Service opens with the reading of one or more passages of Holy Scripture, well suited to remind men of their guilty, lost condition, through sin, and of the readiness of God to receive the returning penitent; after which the minister proceeds to exhort his congregation in the

most earnest and affectionate manner, to join together with heart and voice in confessing their sins to Almighty God, as the first step towards obtaining forgiveness. This exhortation, you will observe, is founded upon the authority of Holy Scripture. "The Scripture moveth us," we are told, "in sundry places to acknowledge and confess our manifold sins and wickedness." And nnmberless, indeed, are the passages in the Holy Scriptures, both in the Old and New Testament, in which this duty of confession is urged upon us. It is enforced in every possible way, by direct precepts, by the example of devout men in every age, by denunciations of the evil consequences of neglecting it, and by promises annexed to the right performance of it. If we go back to the books of Moses, there we find (Lev. xvi. 21,) directions are given respecting the ceremony of the scape goat, which was a type of Him who was in due time to bear our sins in His own body, And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins." And again, (Num. v. 5.) "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the Lord, and that person be guilty; then shall they confess their sin which they have done." Here is the duty both of general and individual confession enjoined upon the Israelites as a Church and nation.

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turn to the Prophets and you will find similar direct commands, as in (Jer. iii. 13,) "Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God;" and in (Hos. v. 15,) "I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seekmy face." And (Joel ii. 12,) "Turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God."

If we look for examples to enforce this duty we shall find them equally abundant. In the book of Job (vii. 20,) we find him acknowledging his sinfulness as the source of his misery. In the Psalms of David, the man after God's own heart, how often do we find the most humiliating confessions of sinfulness, both in nature and practice. Thus in Psalm xxxii. 5, “I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid." And again, (li. 5,) “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me ;" and in (Psalm cvi. 6,) "we have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly." If we turn to the book of Nehemiah, we find in the 1st chapter, that no sooner had Nehemiah heard in Babylon of the lamentable condition of his countrymen at Jerusalem, than he immediately humbled himself before God, confessing with deep contrition of soul, the sins both of his countrymen, and himself, and his father's house. And in Dan. ix. 4 5, we find a like example. I

might refer you to various other passages of Scripture, in which this duty is enforced by the danger of neglecting it, and the safety and benefit arising from a due performance of it, as in Prov. xxviii. 13, where it is said, "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy," which is in perfect accordance with the words of the text. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, &c.” What we have seen will however be enough to shew, how fully the language of our Church on this subject is borne out by the authority of Scripture.

I shall therefore proceed in humble dependance on the aid of that Divine Spirit, who alone can guide us into all truth

1st. To make a few observations on the general necessity of confession; and

2ndly. To examine into the confession in our Liturgy, observing how it harmonizes with Holy Scripture, and applying it practically to ourselves. And, 1st. As to the necessity of confession:

Confession is necessary, because it is the express command of God; and if there were no other reason tó be assigned for it, even though we could discover no benefit whatever arising from it, this alone would make it a duty binding on all. But from what God has revealed to us of his character and perfections, of his wisdom and power, his justice and holiness, and his boundless love to his creatures, we should at once be satisfied that whatever He requires of us

be holy, just, and good. Some indeed, may be ready to ask, why is the confession of sin so necessary? Certainly not merely to make known to God our sins and iniquities, "For His eyes are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." Prov. xv. 3. Every action of our lives, whether good or bad, whether trifling or important, secret or open, is marked by His all-seeing eye. Every sinful or idle word that falls from our lips, every passion or temper that rises within us, every corrupt propensity, every thought that passes in our minds, is known to the Searcher of hearts, even before it is conceived or uttered. "O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me," says David, "Thou knowest my downsitting and uprising, Thou understandest my thought afar off." (Ps. cxxxix. 1, 2.)

But confession of sin is necessary to awaken in our own minds a sense of our true position in the sight of God, and to remind us of our constant need of His pardoning mercy, and of His renewing and sanctifying grace. Although we cannot conceal our sins from God, we may easily conceal them from ourselves. We may deny, we may palliate, we may forget them. Few, indeed, have the hardihood to deny their sins altogether, but many will maintain that they have always lived what is termed a good life,' and that as they have escaped those glaring sins into which many others may have fallen, and have been kind and charitable, and have enjoyed a good reputation in the world, they cannot be such

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