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LECTURE IX.

THE GENERAL CONFESSION.

PSALM XCV., 6.

Oh come, let us worship, and fall down, and kneel before the Lord our Maker.

ISAIAH Liii., 6.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.

As in the Exhortation, the Church directs that the minister shall first declare the ordinance of God, and then beseech his hearers to obey it, so does she also divide the General Confession into two principal parts, the former of which, consisting of the acknowledgment of our sins, will form the subject of the present Lecture, whilst the latter part, which comprises petitions, must be reserved for a future time. we examine our Prayer Book with attention and minuteness, we shall be forcibly struck with the propriety of the titles applied to God in the commencement of the several

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prayers, to the substance of the petitions. The object of the compilers of the Liturgy in making this arrangement, was to affect the minds of the congregation with such various thoughts and feelings as are best suited to the kind of worship they are paying; a sure method of increasing their devotion, as well as of rendering their prayers more acceptable to God, and more beneficial to themselves. In the present instance, we may observe that the humble and penitent sinner can in no way more suitably address the Creator of the world than by calling Him his Almighty and most merciful Father, acknowledging, in the first place, the greatness and majesty of the Being he has offended, and then pleading his hopes of pardon, founded on the parental goodness of his Maker.

When we address God as Almighty, we own his unbounded power; we admit that He is perfect, entire, and happy in himself, and consequently, that He can derive neither benefit nor loss from any act of ours. He is the source from which every thing created, flows; but He has no more need of the services of his creatures, than

his eyes.

the fountain has of its streams. We acknowledge his absolute dominion, and his unbounded power to do what seemeth good in We acknowledge that power which made the heavens by his word, and gave the breath of life by his command; which appears in the support of everything created, and by his providence over all his works. This brings us to consider that our rebellion against the Lord produces misery to ourselves by stopping the current of those blessings which it is his delight to pour on his people; by disobedience to his laws we are deprived of those good and perfect gifts which come down from the Father of lights; and we provoke Him to visit us in his wrath, and vex us in his sore displeasure.

If then the loss of those tender mercies on which we depend for light and life, for the food of our bodies, and the sustenance of our souls, is to be deprecated; if without them we should be debarred not only of happiness, but even of existence; much more would the power of his indignation overwhelm and crush us. His wrath is terrible and endless, and it is revealed against

all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men, it is poured out upon all the children of disobedience, and which of us can venture to believe that he himself is not justly included in that number? The reflections, therefore, caused by this epithet of Almighty, will fill our minds with a terror of the Lord; we shall feel that we have sinned wilfully, and that there remains for us a certain fearful looking for of judgment which we have no possibility of escaping, whilst looking only to the justice of our God. But when these terrible convictions would be likely to overwhelm us with despair, and drive us from the presence of the Lord, when we should be ready to call on the mountains to fall upon us, and on the rocks to hide us from his vengeance, then does the remembrance of his mercy pour the balm of consolation into our wounded spirits; then does the knowledge of his redeeming love relieve our sorrows, and the beams of the sun of righteousness shine forth to banish the dark mists of despair. Hope and love will prevail in our bosoms, when we bear in mind that God is no less All-merciful than Almighty, and that He looks on us with the affection of a father.

For the omnipotence of God was not less manifested in the works of the creation, than it was displayed in our marvellous redemption. Who but the Almighty could have executed such a plan for restoring his ruined creatures to their former state of happiness? Who but the All-merciful could have devised it? With such proofs of his incomprehensible power, we cannot doubt that He is able to renew a right spirit within us; and, when we meditate on his unspeakable love, we have the blessed assurance that He is also willing to draw us to himself, to make us new creatures by conversion, to cause us to be born again by the Holy Ghost in the body of Christ, and in the image of God. Thus we are united to our Heavenly Father by the bonds of the holiest and purest love; love which surpasseth knowledge; love which incites Him to forgive our iniquities; to have compassion on our infirmities, and to accept our imperfect services, because, through the merits of Christ, we are his children; and if men, being evil, do give good gifts unto their children, how much more will our Father which is in heaven give good things unto them that ask Him.

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