ere is nothing in God to affright a sinner, but his justice, holiness,
and righteousness, but unto thee who, in the humble confession of thy
sins, fliest into Jesus Christ, that very thing which did discourage thee,
may now encourage and embolden thee to come, for "he is just and faithful
to forgive sins." His justice being now satisfied, is engaged that way to
forgive, not to punish.

Sermon XX.

1 John i. 10.--"If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a
liar, and his word is not in us."

There is nothing in which religion more consists than in the true and
unfeigned knowledge of ourselves. The heathens supposed that sentence,
{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} "Know thyself," descended from heaven. It was indeed the
motto of the wisest and most religious amongst them. But certain it is,
that the true and sincere understanding of ourselves descends from "the
Father of lights," and is as great a gift as man is capable of, next to
the knowledge of God himself. There is nothing more necessary to man,
either as a man or as a Christian, either as endowed with reason or
professing religion, than that he should be thoroughly acquainted with
himself, his own heart, its dispositions, inclinations, and lusts, his
ways and actions, that while he travels abroad to other creatures and
countries, he may not commit so shameful an absurdity, as to be a stranger
at home, where he ought to be best acquainted. Yet how sad is it, that
this which is so absolutely needful and universally profitable, should be
lying under the manyest difficulties in the attainment of it? So that
there is nothing harder, than to bring a man to a perfect understanding of
himself:--what a vile, haughty, and base creature he is--how defiled and
desperately wicked his nature--how abominable his actions, in a word, what
a compound of darkness and wickedness he is--a heap of defiled dust, and a
mass of confusion--a sink of impiety and iniquity, even the best of
mankind, those of the rarest and most refined extraction, take them at
their best estate. Thus they are as sepulchres painted without, and
putrified within--outwardly adorned, and within all full of rottenness and
corrupt