Guilt

Mark well the difference between the mere fact and the guilt of your sin ; and more especially the difference between the admission of the fact and the admission of your guilt . Jehovah comes into the garden in the cool of the day , and brings the criminals from their hiding place of shame into his presence . The question is : Adam, hast thou eaten ? Eve, hast thou eaten ?Not to ascertain the fact ;-for of that , apart from the Omniscience of the Judge ,their every look , every move , every attitude is a sad , and sore , and sufficient demonstration ; but to induce a confession of sin , of guilt , of inexcusable offence , of righteous liability to anger and punishment . What are their replies ? "The woman whom thou gavest me to be with me , she gave me and I did eat ." The fact is admitted . But is the guilt ?  Nay ; if it were , why this preface to the fact ; this dwelling so fully on fact , and fact alone ; this brief history of the fact ; brief , yet clung to so firmly - expected to be made so much of  ? " The woman whom Thou gavest me to be with me , she gave me and I did eat ." Clearly the design is , while admitting the fact , to disown the guilt ;  to put the guilt on Eve ; " She gave me :"- to put the blame , if need be on God ; - "the woman whom Thou gavest me to be with me . she gave me " - and but for the woman giving me the fruit , and but for Thee giving me the woman , I would not have eaten - for then it would have been wholly inexcusable  . It is an elaborate effort to disentangle the fact from the guilt ; to acknowledge the one and disown the other . There is no giving glory to God and making confession to Him . It is rather rather throwing over the responsibility on Him ; laying blame at His door in the enmity of falsehood ; not taking blame to self , and laying down at His feet in the confidence and confession of truth and candour .
   And the woman , she also admits the fact :- " I did eat ." But she too rejects the guilt ; " The serpent beguiled me and I did eat ." Were it not for him having beguiled me ; had I done it without him beguiling me ; I would have been guilty indeed , silent speechless , inexcusable , without a plea , and my guilt without palliation . As it is , I have this to say for myself - this plea , this answer , this defence , this shield , this extenuation , this claim against condemnation and death ; "The serpent beguiled me ,and I did eat . "
    What are your repentings ? what are you admissions at a throne of grace ? Is it merely the fact of your sin that you admit ? Is it the exceeding sinfulness of sin , rather , that you feel ? The former you may do , and that may satisfy a heathen . It is the latter that satisfies God , - and a man of God . " Give glory unto God , my son , and make confession to Him ."