Secondly, What is confession with the mouth ? A solemn outward declaration that we take Christ for our Lord and Saviour, or that we believe what is revealed to us concerning God and Christ, and our duty to him. This is necessary, because the promises of the new covenant run in both strains ; of putting the word in our heart, Jer. xxxi. 37, and putting it in our mouths, Isa. lix. 21. The saints' prayers are, that God would not take it out of their hearts, Ps. cxix. 36, nor out of their mouths : ver. 43, ' Take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth.' And the nature of their duty to God requireth it ; for a man is first to embrace the true religion, to receive it with his heart, and then he is to profess it, or express it with his mouth ; for no man is to conceal and keep his religion to himself. Our tongues and our bodies were given us to show forth that acknowledgment and adoration of God which is in our hearts. He that denieth God or Christ with the heart, doth not believe in him or worship him with the heart. So he doth not worship God with his tongue and life who doth not outwardly profess and honour him. As he hath given us an understanding that we may know him, so he hath prepared for us a body wherewithal to profess him, and our esteem of him : Isa. xlv. 23, ' To me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear;' which is again repeated and established as our duty in the gospel: Phil. ii. 10, 11, 'At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.'
But more distinctly to open this confession with the mouth.
1. The matter to be confessed is the great truths which we do believe — God, Christ, the covenant of grace, eternal glory and happiness; and the lesser truths in their season at other times : Eom. xiv. 22, ' Hast thou faith ? have it to thyself before God.' It is not meant of the necessary articles of the christian belief, but things of a doubtful disputation. If we know more than others in these things, yet we must not needlessly trouble the church, or offend the weak to the
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danger of their souls and hindrance of greater truths ; and yet in these things you must not deny the smallest truth : 2 Cor. xiii. 8, * We can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth ; ' for though the thing we contend for be small, yet sincerity is a great matter, and to profess our assent and consent to what we neither count true nor can well approve of, is to come under a fellowship of the guilt of undermining truth and godliness.
2. The ways by which we make this profession. The mouth is only mentioned in the text, but that implieth other things. Briefly this confession is made either in word or deed.
[1.] Verbal and in word, by a constant owning of Christ, and our hopes by him, both publicly and upon all occasions by private con- ference, or taking all meet opportunities to discover ourselves that we are christians. So tlio apostle saith of Timothy, 1 Tim. viii. 12, * Lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.' He had openly confessed the name of Christ. And the apostle telleth us, 1 John iv. 15, ' Whoso- ever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him and he in God.' He meaneth it of times wherein this primitive and fundamental truth was mainly contradicted and opposed in the world. Then for a man to declare himself a christian was hazardous, and argued a great degree of self-denial ; and especially it is spoken in opposition to the Gnostics and Nicolaitans, who accounted it sufficient to believe with the heart, taking a liberty to confess what they listed. See how they are taxed : John xii. 42, 43, ' Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him, but because of the pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue ; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.'
[2.] Real or indeed ; and that was either by action or passion.
(1.) By action, and that is twofold — either more public or private.
{1st.) More public, by submission to God's appointed ordinances, as hearing of the word, baptism, and the Lord's supper. Christ instituted these visible duties to make the profession of his name public and open : Mark xvi. 16, 'He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.' In the Lord's supper we commemorate his death : 1 Cor. xi. 26, ' As often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show forth the Lord's death till he come ; ' that is, we publicly com- memorate it, and show it forth as the ground of our hopes. So in all the other duties which we observe in the assemblies of the faith- ful, they are a keeping up of our confession, or a testimony that we are not ashamed of Christ. As Heb. x. 23, 'Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering ; for he is faithful that hath promised.' Now this profession is solemnly made by our com- munion with God's people in their public assemblies ; as it followeth, ver. 25, ' Not forsaking the assembling ourselves together, as the manner of some is.' The assembling ourselves, that is, with the christians and their assemblies, wherein they did meet together to serve and worship God, and mutually to promote their own salvation. Now it is not enough to have our private devotions in our families arid closets, but we must entertain public converse with God, to testify our union and agreement with the people of God in the same