The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-04-02

ton to God and to eternal realities
 which would have to be reckoned with
 somehow sooner or later. But David s
 is a confession of sin as such, based on
 confession of faith such as Saul never dreamed of. With David the first thing
 that occurs to him is the divine relation, I''I have sinned against the Lord" And
 the prophets consolation is suited to
 the case, "The Lord hath put away thy
 Sin; thou shalt not die" That is rec
 ogniion by both Nathan and David that sin Is a cosmic reality, that it is against
 the spiritual nature both of God and of himself But it implies the previous confession of the reality of that spirit
 ual nature both in himself and in God and of his own submission to God in obedient love of righteousness and ha- l tired of sin. That was the one confess
 sion without which all others were
 meaningless and insignificant.
 This, therefore is the starting point for all our confessions. God is all in all. am in Him and with Him and Tor Him. Without Him or apart from Him or against Him I am nothing. Through Christ I am become one with Him Tn obedient love and service. By His spirit He dwells within me and is the law of my life. My greatest calamity would be to disobey that Spirit, and my great est joy is in doing His will. That is ths confession of faith, without which all other confessions are mere decorous conventionalities. That confession itself is mere form of pious words except as it lives in the heart of soul that is brought home to God through Christ. When that confession lives in the heart it also speaks to God and to the world. When it lives in the hearts of the church it speaks and throbs in their divine worship, in their sacred service of one another, and in their holy characters and lives
 It is not to God alone that we live, but also unto our fellow men. The oon- fession of faith in God Is a social con fession made together in the church. Sin is social disaster in which brother rebels against brother as we'll as against God Confession of sin is the social remedy in which heart is laid over heart in penitent grief and mutual revolt against the sin and mutual support in loyalty to the Spirit of God who has brought conviction of the sin. The soul that sins against God and man and does not confess it thereby cuts himself off and denies his confession of faith. Soon he will have neither faith nor the consciousness of sin that he can con- fess. When he confesses his faith to God and to His people and keeps that faith alive, then in times of stress and adversity and evenrof transgression lie finds himself upon a footing where he can open his heart to God and to His chosen friends in a way that makes brotherhood a reality and a support when it Is most needed. To be mem bers one of another means a social unity which stands us in good stead in the time of moral stress It is then when open confession Is good for the soul-confession to God and to the friend best fitted to give help and moral and spiritual support and counsel, and best able to open ana interpret to him the mercy and judgment of God for His and reproof and guidance.
 It is with the heart that man believ- eth unto righteousness; that is the nee essary condition, the only foundation upon which the mouth can make con fession unto salvation. It comes by the l Spirit of God through faith, and with, put the faith the confession is void, for 1t is not confession of sin as sin, but | only as defeat or mistake; it has 10 significance as spiritual and social disaster against God and the brother hood.
 It is on the basis of faith in the fath- ar that the prodigal comes home and | ,onfesses his sin to that father. The confession is the cry for help from one who feels the need to one who is fitted | o give that help. It is a type of all | rue confession. It is a revolt against | he sin that is confessed, and cove lant of loyalty with the father to whom the confession is made Hence orth they are no more twain and di yerse one from the other, but one in pirit and purpose, and together they tand or fall Standing as it does upon he footing of a true confession of faith n God they who are one with each 'ther are also one with Him, and that s unity which abideth forever. It is ,y the narrow door of confession of aith and of sin that every one must trive to enter into that unity. Those vho do enter in know the Father and re known of Him. Those who do not nter in will some time come saying, 4ord Thou didst preach in our city and ve have feasted in Thy presence; but hey have no spiritual unity with Him, nd He will be obliged to confess, I ever knew you.
 
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