Serm. CVL in order to Pardon. Fir l The Confeffion of our Sins ; by which is meant a penitent ackdowledg- ment of our Faults to God ; toGod I fay, becaufe the Confeffion of our Sins tó Men is not generally fpeaking, a Condition of the forgivenefsof them, but on- ly in fome particular cafes, when our Sins againfr God are accompanied and com- plicated with fcandal and injury to Men. In other cafes the Confeffion of our Sins toMen is not neceffary to the pardon of them, as I shall more fully thew in the progrefs of this Difcourfe. All the difficulty in this matter is, that the Conffion of our Sins isoppofed to thecovering and concealing of them : he that covereth his finfhall not profper ; but whofo confeth them, (hall have mercy. But no Man can hope to hide his Sin from God, and therefore cotifeffionof them to God cannot be here meant. But this Obje&ion, ifit be of any force, quite excludeth Confeffion to God, as no part of Solomon's meaning; when yet Confeffion of our Sins to God, is granted on all hands, to be a neceffary Condition of the forgivenefs of them. And to take a- way the whole groundof this Obje&ion ; Men are faid in Scripture, when they do not confefs their Sins and repent of them, to hide and conceal them fromGod : Not to acknowledge them is as if a Man went about to cover them. And thus David oppofethconfelfion offins to God, to the hiding of them, Pfal. 3 z. ç. Iac- knowledged my Sin unto thee, and mine Iniquity have I not hid : ' Ifaid Iwillconfefs my tranfgrejons unto the Lord. So that this is no reafon, why the Text should not be underftoodofthe Confeflion of our Sins to God. But becaufe the necefiity of confeffingour Sins to Men (that is, to the Prieft) inorder to the forgivenefs of them, is a great point ofdifference between us and theChurch of Rome, it being by them efteemed a neceffary Article of Faith, but by us, fo far from being neceffary to be believed, that we do not believe it to be true ; therefore for the clear (taring of this matter, Í (hall briefly enquireinto thefe Twothings. I. Whether Confeffion ofour Sins to the Prieft, as taught and pra&ifed in the Church of Rome, be neceffary to the forgivenefsof them. H. How far the difclofing and revealing of our Sins to the, Minifters ofGod is convenient upon other accounts, and for other purpofes of Religion. I. Whether Confeffion of our Sins to the Prieft, and the manner in which it is taught and pra&ifed in the Church ofRome, be neceffary to the forgivenefs of them. What manner of Confeflion this is, the Council of Trent hathmoft pre- cifelydetermined, viz. " Secret Confeffion to the Prieft alone, of all and every " mortal SIn, which upon the moft diligent fearch and examinationof our Con- " fciences wecan remember our felves to be guilty of fince our Baptifm toge- " ther with all theCircumftances of thofe Sins, which maychange the nature of " them; becaufe without the perfe&knowledge ofthefe, the Prieft cannot make " a judgment of the nature and quality ofMens Sins, nor impofe fitting Penance " for them. This is the Confeffionof Sins required in the Church ofRome, which the fame Council of Trent, without any real ground from Scriptureor Ecclefiafti- cal Antiquity, doth moft confidently affirm, " to have been inftituted by our " Lord, and by the Lawof God tobe neceffary to Salvation, and tohave beers " always praetifed in the Catholick Church. I (hall as briefly as I can examine both thefe Pretences, of the Divine Inttituti- on, and Contrant Pra&ice of this kindof Confection. Firft, For theDivine Inflitution of it, they mainly relyupon three Texts ; in the fir(i of which there is nomention at all of Confeflion, much lefs ofa particu- lar Confeffion ofall our Sins with the Circumftances of them; in the other two there is no mention ofConfeffion to the Prieft : and yet all this ought clearly to appear in thefe Texts, before they canground a Divine In[titution upon them ; for a Divine Inttitution is not to be foundeduponobfcure Confequences, but up- on plain Words. The Firfl Text, and the only one upon which theCouncil ofTrent grounds the Necefiity of Confeffion, is John 20. 23. Whoffoever fins ye remit, they are remit- ted ; andmhofefoever fins ye retain, they are retained : It is a fign they were at a great lofs for a Text to prove it, when they are glad to bring one that bath C not
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