of eternal life from God; and this seed, which contains the power of salvation, is communicated by spiritual regeneration, to all who are willing to receive it; and they, by obeying the influence of that power, received through faith, become righteous. Thus the apostle's expression is verified; and thus we may see that, in order to be made righteous, we must be obedient, even as he was.

As man first fell from a state of rectitude, and lost his union and relation to God, by disobedience; so he must rise from his lost state, and find his union and relation to Christ, by obedience. Short of this, no soul will ever find salvation, and secure an inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven.

CHAPTER IV.

The Confession of Sin.

As man, in his fallen state, is in the kingdom of darkness, and under the government of the prince of this world, who is a prince of darkness; so his introduction into the Kingdom of Christ, which is a kingdom of light, must depend on his coming to the light, and renouncing all the works of darkness. And as all sin, and all manner of wickedness, are the works or deeds of darkness; so the first step towards walking in the light, is to bring these deeds to the light.* And the only manner in which these evil deeds can be brought to the light and truly made manifest, is by confession.

The open confession of sin to the witnesses of Christ, was practiced in the primitive church, and was considered as the first necessary step for the admission of the sinner to the privileges of the gospel, and the only door of entrance into the church of Christ. But the subsequent innovations and scandalous abuses of this doctrine, in the church of Rome, have rendered it obnoxious in the eyes of all the protestant sectaries. And when these innovations and abuses are duly considered, it cannot be a matter of surprise that the doctrine was rejected; for who could reasonably suppose that Jesus Christ or his apostles could ever authorize or sanction such abominations? Besides, the money exacted by the papał clergy, for the pretended pardon of sins, was a heavy tax upon the people, who found it much cheaper, as well as much more agreeable to their feelings, to conceal their iniquities, than to confess them at so great an expense.

Hence the rejection of this doctrine by the protestant reformers, met the popular feeling; and a general belief soon prevailed, that the doctrine itself was the invention of the Romish church, and was purposely designed to draw money from the people. This belief still prevails; and so strong is the prejudice against the dec

See John iii. 19, 20, 21.

trine, that among all classes of protestant professors, wherever it is mentioned, the general cry is, This is rank popery-I don't believe in confessing sins to man-We must confess our sins to God alone, and not to man. And indeed, such scandalous abuses of a divine principle, given in tender mercy to lost man, were sufficient to destroy the faith of the multitude, and create unbelief in the principle, wherever these abuses were known.

But the abuse of a divine institution proves nothing against the institution itself. In this case, it ought to be considered as an evidence of its divine origin: for it was evidently a knowledge that this was an institution maintained in the primitive church, that enabled the catholic clergy to support its authority, after they had so basely corrupted it. For no man, in his rational senses, could be brought to believe that his sins could be pardoned for money, if he were not first led into a full belief, founded on something more than human authority, that the practice of confessing sin before the witnesses of God, was an institution of Divine appointment; and therefore supposed he must do it, even if he was obliged, on account of clerical avarice, to pay out his money for the privilege.*

But this gracious principle, tho it had been so much and so long abused in the church of Antichrist, was renewed in all its purity, in the very commencement of the work of God which gave rise to the United Society. And it was followed by such evident displays. of Divine Power, as to carry the most powerful conviction in favor of its divine origin. And all who received faith in the testimony, and honestly confessed their sins, were blessed, in their obedience, with an overcoming power over all sin, and felt a living witness in their own souls, that this testimony was, in very deed, the testimo ny of God. They did not feel as tho they were confessing their sins to man, but to God, in the presence of his witnesses; and they were fully convinced that they could not find access to God in any other way. And this testimony has been maintained to this day, as the first principle of obedience to the law of Christ. It was a doctrine continually enjoined by our first parents in the gospel; and often, when people came to confess their sins, they were reminded of the sense they ought to have of it, in the following words: "Remember, if you confess your sins, you must confess them to "God: we are but his witnesses."

That sinners are required to confess their sins in the presence of God's witnesses, in order to find the forgiveness of God; and that this is both scriptural and rational, and the only true order of confession, will appear evident from the following considerations.

* Just so many, at the present day, feel it their duty to attend the assemblies of those who profess to worship God on the sabbath, because it was an institution of the primitive church, even tho, in its present corrupted state, they are obliged to purchase this privi ege, and pay out their money to a hireling preacher, who professes to preach a free gospel without money and without price!

1. We presume it will not be denied that all mankind are born into the world with a sinful nature. And it is equally true that all who arrive at the age of maturity, and are capable of discerning between good and evil, find that this nature brings forth, in them, the fruits of actual sin. Hence it is generally admitted by all professors of religion, that a confession of sin, of some sort, is necessary, in order to find forgiveness and acceptance with God. But there is a wide difference of opinion respecting the manner in which this confession ought to be made. Many contend for a secret confession to God alone. But we would ask, where is the sinner's assurance that he can find God in the secret chamber, and make confession to his acceptance? We read that "The sacrifice of the "wicked is an abomination to the Lord; but the prayer of the "upright is his delight." Again: "The Lord is far from the "wicked; but he heareth the prayer of the righteous."* And again; "If I regard iniquity in my heart," saith David, "the Lord will "not hear me."+

We find that, in all ages of the world, the established order of God's intercourse with man, has been through the agency of man. And altho, in many instances, there have been occasional manifes tations of the Divine Spirit to individuals, revealed in various manners; yet none could ever be brought into covenant relation with God's chosen people, without living agents, selected for that purpose. Witness the case of Saul of Tarsus, Cornelius the centurion, and others, who, tho they were called by a manifestation of Divine light, could not be brought into fellowship with the body of God's chosen people, without the agency of living witnesses belonging to that body.

Nor do we find, that God ever held any immediate intercourse with mankind, at large, or with any body of people, as such; but he has always revealed himself through the agency of certain individuals, whom he had chosen as messengers of his will to others; and the people were always required to learn the will of God from these individuals, as agents or witnesses of God, and to find access to God through them. And it is worthy of particular remark, that God has always chosen his agents from among the most honest and upright, or those who have come the nearest to him in the works of righteousness. Witness Noah, Abraham, Moses, Samuel and the prophets, who were all chosen as the agents of God, to do his work and reveal his will, and to stand between him and the people.

We find also, that wherever God has had a covenant people, who have walked in his statutes, and have kept themselves from those pollutions in which the rest of mankind have lived, there he has placed his name, and there he has been found, and there he

must always be found, if any where; because there is his true and only habitation on earth; and there he has placed the only treasures of Heaven that ever were, or ever can be found on earth by fallen man. And all souls who ever find access to God, and obtain an inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven, must obtain it through such a medium.

The power of salvation and eternal life is too precious to be scattered promiscuously, in every direction, and among all sorts of people, without regard to their state and situation, and other circumstances. It was purchased by Jesus Christ, at a great price; and he never could have purchased it, with all the sufferings he passed through, had he not lived a perfectly sinless life in the mean time. Therefore it is a treasure infinitely precious in the sight of God; and altho, as the apostle saith, 66 we have this treasure in earthen vessels ;" yet these vessels must be pure and clean; nor can it ever be conveyed to mankind in any other. Nor indeed can any one ever obtain this treasure, without first casting out all the Devil's treasure out of his soul, (that is, all his sins,) by an honest and free confession, and thereby purifying himself from all uncleanness, that he may become a fit vessel to receive this treasure.

2. As all the secret actions of men are open and known to God; therefore a confession made in secret, tho professedly made to God, can bring nothing to the light; and the sinner may, perhaps, have as little fear of God, in confessing his sins in this manner, as he had in committing them. And as nothing is brought to the light by confessing his sins in this manner, he feels no cross in it; nor does he thereby find any mortification to that carnal nature which first led him into sin; and is therefore as liable to run again into the same acts of sin, as he was before his confession.

But let the sinner appear in the presence of a faithful servant of Christ, and there confess, honestly, his every secret sin, one by one, of whatever nature or name, and faithfully lay open his whole life, without any covering or disguise; and he will then feel a humiliating sense of himself, in the presence of God, in a manner which he never experienced before. He will then, in very deed, find a mortifying cross to his carnal nature, and feel the crucifixion of his lust and pride where he never did before. He will then perceive the essential difference between confessing his sins in the dark, where no mortal ear can hear him, and actually bringing his evil deeds to the light of one individual child of God; and he will then be convinced that a confession made before the light of God, in one of his true witnesses, can bring upon him a more awful sense of his accountability, both to God and man, than all his confessions in darkness had ever done.

3. It must appear obvious to every reflecting mind, that the spirit which leads the sinner to commit sin, and keep it concealed,

is directly contrary to that which leads him to confess it. And it is equally obvious that the sinner, if he must confess his sins, would much rather confess them in secret, to an unknown God, whom he cannot fear, because he does not know him, than to confess them to a fellow being, whom he believes to be a true and faithful servant of God. Thus the sinner can easily unite with the spirit of darkness, which conceals his sins, while he feels a conscious dread of the spirit of light which exposes them. And herein we find a powerful evidence, that the spirit of wickedness in man, hates an open confession of sin, while it is willing to submit to a secret one.

It must also be admitted, that no person could ever be induced to appear before a real child of God, and there make an honest and open confession of all his sins, but from a principle of uprightness and sincerity. And under the influence of such a principle, he could not conceal any, not even those which were the most infamous and debasing to his character; for such a principle is totally opposite to that which would induce him to keep his sins concealed. And as it is the nature and disposition of all wicked people, even of the most abandoned characters, to keep their wickedness concealed from the righteous; so we may judge from thence, which principle is the most consistent with the pure light of God, and most agreeable to righteousness and truth, that which leads to an honest confession, or that which leads to concealment, and endeavors to plead justification in making secret confessions to God alone.

4. It is well known that many people, when under a deep conviction of sin, in consequence of the intolerable burden of their sins, are anxious to find some kind and confidential friend, who is a godly person, to whom they can freely unburthen their minds. At such times, a secret confession cannot satisfy them; they are desirous to make an honest and full confession of their sins to some one whom they believe to be a faithful servant of God. And the more confidence they can feel that such a one is a true witness of God, the greater will be their hope of relief..

Many persons on their deathbeds, feeling sensible that they must die, and knowing that they have lived without hope and without God in the world, have been greatly alarmed at their situation, and with an awful sense of their sins staring them in the face, they have been constrained to pour out their wicked lives, by confessing their sins to any one that would hear them. Many criminals also, whose crimes have brought them to the end of their wicked career, seeing that they were just about to enter the eternal world, without any hope of pardon, have been suddenly awakened to a feeling sense of the just judgment and condemnation before them; and under an intolerable load of guilt, have been ready to cry out and confess their sins, without the least restraint, before the surrounding multitude.