Sermon 113. Confession of Sin-A Sermon With Seven Texts

(No. 113)

Delivered on Sabbath Morning, January 18, 1857, by the

REV. C.H. SPURGEON

At the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens.

My sermon this morning will have seven texts, and yet I pledge myself that there shall be but three different words in thewhole of them; for it so happens that the seven texts are all alike, occurring in seven different portions of God's holy Word.I shall require, however, to use the whole of them to exemplify different cases; and I must request those of you who havebrought your Bibles with you to refer to the texts as I shall mention them.

The subject of this morning's discourse will be this-CONFESSION OF SIN. We know that this is absolutely necessary to salvation.Unless there be a true and hearty confession of our sins to God, we have no promise that we shall find mercy through the bloodof the Redeemer. "Whosoever confesseth his sins and forsaketh them shall find mercy." But there is no promise in the Bibleto the man who will not confess his sins. Yet, as upon every point of Scripture there is aliability of being deceived, so more especially in the matter of confession of sin. There be many who make a confession,and a confession before God, who notwithstanding, receive no blessing, because their confession has not in it certain markswhich are required by God to prove it genuine and sincere, and which demonstrate it to be the work of the Holy Spirit. Mytext this morning consists of three words, "I have sinned." And you will see how these words, in the lips of different men,indicatevery different feelings. While one says, "I have sinned," and receives forgiveness; another we shall meet with says, "Ihave sinned," and goes his way to blacken himself with worse crimes than before, and dive into greater depths of sin thanheretofore he had discovered.

The Hardened Sinner.

PHARAOH-"I have sinned."-Exodus 9:27.

I. The first case I shall bring before you is that of the HARDENED SINNER, who, when under terror, says, "I have sinned."And you will find the text in the book of Exodus, the 9th chap. and 27th verse: "And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses andAaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked."

But why this confession from the lips of the haughty tyrant? He was not often wont to humble himself before Jehovah. Why doththe proud one bow himself? You will judge of the value of his confession when you hear the circumstances under which it wasmade. "And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven; and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon theground; and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. So that there was hail, and fire mingled withthe hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation." "Now," saysPharaoh, whilst the thunder is rolling through the sky, while the lightning-flashes are setting the very ground on fire, andwhile the hail is descending in big lumps of ice, now, says he, "I have sinned." He is but a type and specimen of multitudesof the same class. How many a hardened rebel on shipboard, when the timbers are strained and creaking, when the mast is broken,and the ship is drifting before the gale, when the hungry waves are opening their mouths to swallow the ship up aliveand quick as those that go into the pit-how many a hardened sailor has then bowed his knee, with tears in his eyes, and cried,"I have sinned!" But of what avail and of what value was his confession? The repentance that was born in the storm died inthe calm; that repentance of his that was begotten amidst the thunder and the lightning, ceased so soon as all was hushedin quiet,and the man who was a pious mariner when on board ship, became the most wicked and abominable of sailors when he placedhis foot on terra firma. How often, too, have we seen this in a storm of thunder and lightning? Many a man's cheek is blanched when he hears the thunderrolling; the tears start to his eyes, and he cries, "O God, I have sinned!" while the rafters of his house are shaking, andthe very ground beneath him reeling at the voice of God which is full of majesty. But alas, forsuch a repentance! When the sun again shines, and the black clouds are withdrawn, sin comes again upon the man, and hebecomes worse than before. How many of the same sort of confessions, too, have we seen in times of cholera, and fever, andpestilence! Then our churches have been crammed with hearers, who, because so many funerals have passed their doors, or somany have died in the street, could not refrain from going up to God's house to confess their sins. And under that visitation,whenone, two, and three have been lying dead in the house, or next door, how many have thought they would really turn to God!But, alas! when the pestilence had done its work, conviction ceased; and when the bell had tolled the last time for a deathcaused by cholera, then their hearts ceased to beat with penitence, and their tears did flow no more.

Have I any such here this morning? I doubt not I have hardened persons who would scorn the very idea of religion, who wouldcount me a cant and hypocrite if I should endeavour to press it home upon them, but who know right well that religion is true,and who feel it in their times of terror! If I have such here this morning, let me solemnly say to them, "Sirs, you have forgottenthe feelings you had in your hours of alarm; but, remember, God has not forgotten the vows youthen made." Sailor, you said if God would spare you to see the land again, you would be his servant; you are not so, youhave lied against God, you have made him a false promise, for you have never kept the vow which your lips did utter. You said,on a bed of sickness, that if he would spare your life you would never again sin as you did before; but here you are, andthis week's sins shall speak for themselves. You are no better than you were before your sickness. Couldst thou lie to thyfellow-man, and yet go unreproved? And thinkest thou that thou wilt lie against God, and yet go unpunished? No; the vow,however rashly made, is registered in heaven; and though it be a vow which man cannot perform, yet, as it is a vow which hehas made himself, and made voluntarily too, he shall be punished for the non-keeping it; and God shall execute vengeance uponhim at last, because he said be would turn from his ways, and then when the blow was removed he did it not. A great outcryhasbeen raised of late against tickets-of-leave; I have no doubt there are some men here, who before high heaven stand inthe same position as the ticket-of-leave men stand to our government. They were about to die, as they thought; they promisedgood behaviour if they might be spared, and they are here to-day on ticket-of-leave in this world: and how have they fulfilledtheir promise? Justice might raise the same outcry against them as they do against the burglars so constantly let loose uponus.The avenging angel might say, "O God, these men said, if they were spared they would be so much better; if anything theyare worse. How have they violated their promise, and how have they brought down divine wrath upon their heads!" This is thefirst style of penitence; and it is a style I hope none of you will imitate, for it is utterly worthless. It is of no usefor you to say, "I have sinned," merely under the influence of terror, and then to forget it afterwards.

The Double-minded Man.

BALAAM-"I have sinned."-Numbers 22:34.

II. Now for a second text. I beg to introduce to you another character-the double-minded man, who says, "I have sinned," and feels that he has, and feels it deeply too, but who is so worldly-minded that he "loves thewages of unrighteousness." The character I have chosen to illustrate this, is that of Balaam. Turn to the book of Numbers,the 22nd chap. and the 34th verse: "And Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord, I have sinned."

"I have sinned," said Balaam; but yet he went on with his sin afterwards. One of the strangest characters of the whole worldis Balaam. I have often marvelled at that man; he seems really in another sense to have come up to the lines of Ralph Erskine-

"To good and evil equal bent,

And both a devil and a saint."

For he did seem to be so. At times no man could speak more eloquently and more truthfully, and at other times he exhibitedthe most mean and sordid covetousness that could disgrace human nature. Think you see Balaam; he stands upon the brow of thehill, and there lie the multitudes of Israel at his feet; he is bidden to curse them, and he cries, "How shall I curse whomGod hath not cursed?" And God opening his eyes, he begins to tell even about the coming of Christ, and hesays, "I shall see him, but not now. I shall behold him, but not nigh." And then he winds up his oration by saying-"Letme die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!" And ye will say of that man, he is a hopeful character.Wait till he has come off the brow of the hill, and ye will hear him give the most diabolical advice to the king of Moab whichit was even possible for Satan himself to suggest. Said he to the king, " You cannot overthrow these people in battle, forGodis with them; try and entice them from their God." And ye know how with wanton lusts they of Moab tried to entice thechildren of Israel from allegiance to Jehovah; so that this man seemed to have the voice of an angel at one time, and yetthe very soul of a devil in his bowels. He was a terrible character; be was a man of two things, a man who went all the waywith two things to a very great extent. I know the Scripture says, "No man can serve two masters." Now this is often misunderstood.Some read it, "No man can serve two masters." Yes he can; he can serve three or four. The way to read it is this: "No man can serve two masters," They cannot both be masters. He can serve two, but they cannot both be his master. A man can serve two who are not his masters,or twenty either; he may live for twenty different purposes, but he cannot live for more than one master purpose-there canonly be one master purpose in his soul. But Balaam laboured to serve two; it was likethe people of whom it was said, "They feared the Lord, and served other gods." Or like Rufus, who was a loaf of the sameleaven; for you know our old king Rufus painted God on one side of his shield, and the devil on the other, and had underneath,the motto: "Ready for both; catch who can." There are many such, who are ready for both. They meet a minister, and how piousand holy they are; on the Sabbath they are the most respectable and upright people in the world, as you would think; indeedthey effect a drawling in their speech, which they think to be eminently religious. But on a week day, if you want tofind the greatest rogues and cheats, they are some of those men who are so sanctimonious in their piety. Now, rest assured,my hearers, that no confession of sin can be genuine, unless it be a whole hearted one. It is of no use for you to say, "Ihave sinned," and then keep on sinning. "I have sinned," say you, and it is a fair, fair face you show; but, alas! alas! forthe sinyou will go away and commit. Some men seem to be born with two characters. I remarked when in the library at Trinity College,Cambridge, a very fine statue of Lord Byron. The librarian said to me, "Stand here, sir." I looked, and I said, "What a fineintellectual countenance! What a grand genius he was!" "Come here," he said, "to the other side." "Ah! what a demon! Therestands the man that could defy the deity." He seemed to have such a scowl and such a dreadful leer in his face; even asMilton would have painted Satan when he said-"Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven." I turned away and said tothe librarian, "Do you think the artist designed this?" "Yes," he said, "he wished to picture the two characters-the great,the grand, the almost superhuman genius that he possessed, and yet the enormous mass of sin that was in his soul." There aresome men here of the same sort. I dare say, like Balaam, they would overthrow everything in argument with their enchantments;theycould work miracles; and yet at the same time there is something about them which betrays a horrid character of sin, asgreat as that which would appear to be their character for righteousness. Balaam, you know, offered sacrifices to God uponthe altar of Baal: that was just the type of his character. So many do; they offer sacrifices to God on the shrine of Mammon;and whilst they will give to the building of a church, and distribute to the poor, they will at the other door of theircounting-house grind the poor for bread, and press the very blood out of the widow, that they may enrich themselves. Ah!it is idle and useless for you to say, "I have sinned," unless you mean it from your heart. That double minded man's confessionis of no avail.

The Insincere Man.

SAUL-"I have sinned."-1 Samuel 15:24.

III. And now a third character, and a third text. In the first book of Samuel, the 15th chap. and 24th verse: "And Saul saidunto Samuel, I have sinned."

Here is the insincere man-the man who is not like Balaam, to a certain extent sincere in two things; but the man who is just the opposite-who has noprominent point in his character at all, but is moulded everlastingly by the circumstances that are passing over his head.Such a man was Saul. Samuel reproved him, and he said, "I have sinned." But he did not mean what he said: for if you read the whole verse youwill find him saying, "I have sinned: for I havetransgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words; because I feared the people:" which was a lying excuse. Saul never feared anybody; he was always ready enough to do his own will-he was the despot. Andjust before he had pleaded another excuse, that he had saved the bullocks and lambs to offer to Jehovah, and therefore bothexcuses could not have been true. You remember, my friends, that the most prominent feature in the character of Saul. washis insincerity. One day he fetchedDavid from his bed, as bethought, to put him to death in his house. Another time he declares, "God forbid that I shoulddo aught against thee, my son David." One day, because David saved his life, he said, "Thou art more righteous than I; I willdo so no more." The day before he had gone out to fight against his own son-in-law, in order to slay him. Sometimes Saul wasamong the prophets, easily turned into a prophet, and then afterwards among the witches; sometimes in one place, and thenanother, and insincere in everything. How many such we have in every Christian assembly; men who are very easily moulded!Say what you please to them, they always agree with you. They have affectionate dispositions, very likely a tender conscience;but then the conscience is so remarkably tender, that when touched it seems to give, and you are afraid to probe deeper,-itheals as soon it is wounded. I think I used the very singular comparison once before, which I must use again: there are somemen who seem to have india-rubber hearts. If you do but touch them, there is an impression made at once; but then it isof no use, it soon restores itself to its original character. You may press them whatever way you wish, they are so elasticyou can always effect your purpose; but then they are not fixed in their character, and soon return to be what they were before.O sirs, too many of you have done the same; you have bowed your heads in church, and said, "We have erred and strayed fromthyways;" and you did not mean what you said. You have come to your minister; you have said, "I repent of my sins;" you didnot then feel you were a sinner; you only said it to please him. And now you attend the house of God; no one more impressiblethan you; the tear will run down your cheek in a moment, but yet. notwithstanding all that, the tear is dried as quickly asit is brought forth, and you remain to all intents and purposes the same as you were before. To say, "I have sinned," in anunmeaning manner, is worse than worthless, for it is a mockery of God thus to confess with insincerity of heart.

I have been brief upon this character; for it seemed to touch upon that of Balaam; though any thinking man will at once seethere was a real contrast between Saul and Balaam, even though there is an affinity between the two. Balaam was the greatbad man, great in all he did; Saul was little in everything except in stature, little in his good and little in his vice;and he was too much of a fool to be desperately bad, though too wicked to be at any time good: while Balaamwas great in both: the man who could at one time defy Jehovah, and yet at another time could say, "If Balak would giveme his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more."

The Doubtful Penitent.

ACHAN-"I have sinned."-Joshua 7:20.

IV. And now I have to introduce to you a very interesting case; it is the case of the doubtful penitent, the case of Achan, in the book of Joshua, the 7th chap. and the 20th verse:-"And Achan answered Joshua, indeed I have sinned."

You know that Achan stole some of the prey from the city of Jericho-that he was discovered by lot, and put to death. I havesingled this case out as the representative of some whose characters are doubtful on their death beds; who do repent apparently,but of whom the most we can say is, that we hope their souls are saved at last, but indeed we cannot tell. Achan, you areaware, was stoned with stones, for defiling Israel. But I find in the Mishna, an old Jewish expositionof the Bible, these words, "Joshua said to Achan, the Lord shall trouble thee this day." And the note upon it is-He said this day, implying that he was only to be troubled in this life, by being stoned to death, but that God would have mercy on hissoul, seeing that he had made a full confession of his sin." And I, too, am inclined, from reading the chapter, to concurin the idea of my venerable and now glorified predecessor, Dr. Gill, in believing that Achan really was saved,although he was put to death for the crime, as an example. For you will observe how kindly Joshua spoke to him. He said,"My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hastdone; hide it not from me." And you find Achan making a very full confession. He says, "Indeed I have sinned against the LordGod of Israel, and thus and thus have I done. When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekelsofsilver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid inthe earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it." It seems so full a confession, that if I might be allowed tojudge, I should say, "I hope to meet Achan the sinner, before the throne of God." But I find Matthew Henry has no such opinion;and many other expositors consider that as his body was destroyed, so was his soul. I have, therefore, selected his case,as beingone of doubtful repentance. Ah! dear friends, it has been my lot to stand by many a death-bed, and to see many such arepentance as this; I have seen the man, when worn to a skeleton, sustained by pillows in his bed; and he has said, when Ihave talked to him of judgment to come, "Sir, I feel I have been guilty, but Christ is good; I trust in him." And I have saidwithin myself, " I believe the man's soul is safe." But I have always come away with the melancholy reflection that I hadno proofof it, beyond his own words; for it needs proof in acts and in future life, in order to sustain any firm conviction ofa man's salvation. You know that great fact, that a physician once kept a record of a thousand persons who thought they weredying, and whom he thought were penitents; he wrote their names down in a book as those, who, if they had died, would go toheaven; they did not die, they lived; and he says that out of the whole thousand he had not three persons who turned out wellafterwards, but they returned to their sins again, and were as bad as ever. Ah! dear friends, I hope none of you willhave such a death-bed repentance as that; I hope your minister or your parents will not have to stand by your bedside, andthen go away and say, "Poor fellow, I hope he is saved. But alas! death-bed repentances are such flimsy things; such poor,such trivial grounds of hope, that I am afraid, after all, his soul may be lost." Oh! to die with a full assurance; oh! todie with anabundant entrance, leaving a testimony behind that we have departed this life in peace! That is a far happier way thanto die in a doubtful manner, lying sick, hovering between two worlds, and neither ourselves nor yet our friends knowing towhich of the two worlds we are going. May God grant us grace to give in our lives evidences of true conversion, that our casemay not be doubtful!

The Repentance of Despair.

JUDAS-"I have sinned."-Matthew 27:4.

V. I shall not detain you too long, I trust, but I must now give you another bad case; the worst of all. It is the REPENTANCEOF DESPAIR. Will you turn to the 27th chap. of Matthew, and the 4th verse? There you have a dreadful case of the repentanceof despair. You will recognize the character the moment I read the verse: "And Judas said, I have sinned." Yes, Judas thetraitor, who had betrayed his Master, when be saw that his Master was condemned, "repented, and broughtagain the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocentblood, and cast down the pieces in the temple, and went" and what?-" and hanged himself." Here is the worst kind of repentance of all; in fact, I know not that I am justified in calling it repentance; it must becalled remorse of conscience. But Judas did confess his sin, and then went and hanged himself. Oh! that dreadful, that terrible,that hideous confession ofdespair. Have you never seen it? If you never have, then bless God that you never were called to see such a sight. I haveseen it once in my life, I pray God I may never see it again,-the repentance of the man who sees death staring him in theface, and who says, "I have sinned." You tell him that Christ has died for sinners; and he answers, "There is no hope forme; I have cursed God to his face; I have defied him; my day of grace I know is past; my conscience is seared with a hot iron;I amdying, and I know I shall be lost!" Such a case as that happened long ago, you know, and is on record-the case of FrancisSpira-the most dreadful ease, perhaps, except that of Judas, which is upon record in the memory of man. Oh! my hearers, willany of you have such a repentance? If you do, it will be a beacon to all persons who sin in future; if you have such a repentanceas that, it will be a warning to generations yet to come. In the life of Benjamin Keach-and he also was once of mypredecessors-I find the case of a man who had been a professor of religion, but had departed from the profession, andhad gone into awful sin. When he came to die, Keach, with many other friends, went to see him, but they could never stay withhim above five minutes at a time; for he said, "Get ye gone; it is of no use your coming to me; I have sinned away the HolyGhost; I am like Esau, I have sold my birthright, and though I seek it carefully with tears, I can never find it again." Andthenhe would repeat dreadful words, like these: 'My mouth is filled with gravel stones, and I drink wormwood day and night.Tell me not tell me not of Christ! I know he is a Saviour, but I hate him and he hates me. I know I must die; I know I mustperish!" And then followed doleful cries, and hideous noises, such as none could bear. They returned again in his placid momentsonly to stir him up once more, and make him cry out in his despair, "I am lost ! I am lost ! It is of no use your tellingmeanything about it!" Ah! I there may be a man here who may have such a death as that; let me warn him, ere he come to it; and may God the Holy Spirit grant that that man may be turned unto God, and made a true penitent, and then he need not haveany more fear; for he who has had his sins washed away in a Saviour's blood, need not have any remorse for his sins, for theyare pardoned through the Redeemer.

The Repentance of the Saint.

JOB-"I have sinned."-Job 7:20

VI. And now I come into daylight. I have been taking you through dark and dreary confessions; I shall detain you there nolonger, but bring you out to the two good confessions which I have to read to you. The first is that of Job in 7th chap.,at the 20th verse: "I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men?" This is the repentance of the saint. Job was a saint, but he sinned. This is the repentance of the man who is a child of God already, anacceptable repentance before God. But as I intend to dwell upon this in the evening, I shall now leave it, for fear ofwearying you. David was a specimen of this kind of repentance, and I would have you carefully study his penitential psalms,the language of which is ever full of weeping humility and earnest penitence.

The Blessed Confession.

THE PRODIGAL-"I have sinned."-Luke 15:18.

VII. I come now to the last instance, which I shall mention; it is the case of the prodigal. In Luke xv. 18, we find the prodigal says: "Father I have sinned." Oh, here is a blessed confession! Here is that which proves a man to be a regenerate character-" Father, I have sinned." Let me picture the scene. There isthe prodigal; he has run away from a good home and a kind father, and he has spent all his money with harlots, and now hehas none left. He goes to hisold companions, and asks them for relief. They laugh him to scorn. "Oh," says he, "you have drunk my wine many a day;I have always stood paymaster to you in all our revelries; will you not help me?" "Get you gone" they say; and he is turnedout of doors. He goes to all his friends with whom he had associated, but no man gives him anything. At last a certain citizenof the country said,-"You want something to do, do you? Well go and feed my swine." The poor prodigal, the son of a richlandowner, who had a great fortune of his own, has to go out to feed swine; and he a Jew too!-the worst employment (tohis mind,) to which he could be put. See him there, in squalid rags, feeding swine; and what are his wages? Why, so little,that he "would fain have filled his belly with the husks the swine eat, but no man gave to him." Look, there he is, with thefellow commoners of the sty, in all his mire and filthiness. Suddenly a thought put there by the good Spirit, strikes hismind."How is it," says he, "that in my father's house there is bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger? I willarise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthyto be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants." Off he goes. He begs his way from town to town. Sometimes hegets a lift on a coach, perhaps, but at other times he goes trudging his way up barren hills and down desolate vales, allalone. Andnow at last he comes to the hill outside the village, and sees his father's house down below. There it is; the old poplartree against it, and there are the stacks round which he and his brother used to run and play; and at the sight of the oldhomestead all the feelings and associations of his former life rush upon him, and tears run down his cheeks, and he is almostready to run away again. He says "I wonder whether father's dead? I dare say mother broke her heart when I went away; I alwayswas her favorite. And if they are either of them alive, they will never see me again; they will shut the door in my face.What am I to do? I cannot go back, I am afraid to go forward." And while he was thus deliberating, his father had been walkingon the housetop, looking out for his son; and though he could not see his father, his father could see him. Well, the fathercomes down stairs with all his might, runs up to him, and whilst he is thinking of running away, his father's arms are roundhis neck, and he falls-to kissing him, like a loving father indeed, and then the son begins,-"Father, I have sinned againstheaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son," and he was going to say, "Make me as one of thy hiredservants." But his father puts his hand on his mouth. "No more of that," says he; "I forgive you all; you shall not say anythingabout being a hired servant-I will have none of that. Come along," says he, "come in, poor prodigal. Ho!" says he to theservants, "bring hither the best robe, and put it on him, and put shoes on his poor bleeding feet; and bring hither thefatted calf and kill it; and let us eat and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is found.And they began to be merry." Oh, what a precious reception for one of the chief of sinners! Good Matthew Henry says-" Hisfather saw him, there were eyes of mercy; he ran to meet him, there were legs of mercy; he put his arms round his neck, therewerearms of mercy; he kissed him, there were kisses of mercy; he said to him-there were words of mercy,-Bring hither the bestrobe, there were deeds of mercy, wonders of mercy-all mercy. Oh, what a God of mercy he is."

Now, prodigal, you do the same. Has God put it into your heart? There are many who have been running away a long time now.Does God say "return?" Oh, I bid you return, then, for as surely as ever thou dost return he will take thee in. There neverwas a poor sinner yet who came to Christ, whom Christ turned away. If he turns you away, you will be the first. Oh, if youcould but try him! "Ah, sir, I am so black, so filthy, so vile." Well come along with you-you cannot beblacker than the prodigal. Come to your Father's house, and as surely as he is God he will keep his word-"Him that comethunto me I will in no wise cast out."

Oh, if I might hear that some had come to Christ this morning, I would indeed bless God! I must tell here for the honor ofGod and Christ, one remarkable circumstance, and then I have done. You will remember that one morning I mentioned the caseof an infidel who had been a scorner and scoffer, but who, through reading one of my printed sermons, had been brought toGod's house and then to God's feet. Well, last Christmas day, the same infidel gathered together all hisbooks, and went into the market-place at Norwich, and there made a public recantation of all his errors, and a professionof Christ, and then taking up all his books which he had written, and had in his house, on evil subjects, burned them in thesight of the people. I have blessed God for such a wonder of grace as that, and pray that there may be many more such, who,though they be born prodigal will yet return home, saying, "I have sinned."