Q. What must I do when God hath shewed me any sin, to make right confession thereof?—A. Thou must follow that conviction until it shall bring thee to the original and fountain of that sin, which is thine own heart (1 Kings 8:38; Psa 55:5).
Q. Is my heart then the fountain and original of sin?—A. Yes; 'For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and defile the man' (Mark 7:21,23).
Q. When a man sees this, what will he think of himself?—A. Then he will not only think but conclude, that he is an unclean thing, that his heart has deceived him, that it is most desperate and wicked, that it may not be trusted by any means, that every imagination and thought of his heart, naturally, is only evil, and that continually (Isa 64:6; Prov 28:26; Isa 44:20; Gen 6:5).
Q. You have given me a very bad character of the heart, but how shall I know that it is so bad as you count it?—A. Both by the text and by experience.
Q. What do you mean by experience?—A. Keep thine eyes upon thy heart, and also upon God's word, and thou shalt see with thine own eyes, the desperate wickedness that is in thine heart, for thou must know sin by the law, that bidding, thee do one thing, and thy heart inclining to another (Rom 7:7-10).
Q. May I thus then know my heart?—A. Yes, that is something of it, especially the carnality of thy mind, 'Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be' (Rom 8:7).
Q. Can you particularize some few things wherein the wickedness of the heart of man shews itself?—A. Yes; by its secret hankering after sin, although the Word forbids it; by its deferring of repentance; by its being weary of holy duties; by its aptness to forget God, by its studying to lessen and hide sin; by its feigning itself to be better than it is; by being glad when it can sin without being seen of men; by its hardening itself against the threatenings and judgments of God; by its desperate inclinings to unbelief, atheism, and the like (Prov 1:24-26; Isa 43:22; Mal 1:12,13; Ju 3:7; Jer 2:32; Psa 106:21; Hosea 2:13; Prov 30:20; Jer 2:25; Rom 1:32, 2:5; Zeph 1:11-13).[12]
Q. Is there any thing else to be done in order to a right confession of sin?—A. Yes: Let this conviction sink down into thy heart, that God sees much more wickedness in thee than thou canst see in thyself. 'If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things' (1 John 3:20); besides, he hath set thy secret sins in the light of his countenance (Psa 90:8).
Q. Is there any thing else that must go to a right confession of sin?—A. Yes; In thy confessions thou must greaten and aggravate thy sin by all just circumstances.
Q. How must I do that?—A. By considering against how much light and mercy thou hast sinned, against how much patience and forbearance thou hast sinned; also against what warnings and judgments thou hast sinned; and against how many of thine own vows, promises and engagements, thou hast sinned: these things heighten and aggravate sin (Ezra 9:10-14).