· , Bead I. ,Tbe Corruption of the Confcienc~. 85 . ~: •u~ of the heart- of men, proceed evil tho,ughtJ, at:lulterier, :_:-for:nicationJ, murders·; thefts., ctJfJetouf.nefi, ~c. · ~he na: '" ·uual man's affeetion-s.,.are.wreteh.edlym1fplac.ed; he ts aJpt ~ . ;ritual monll:er. ,·His heart is there, where his feet {hould ;· 'be, fixed on..the earth; his heels are lifted.up agai'nfi heaven, which<his heart fhould ·be Je t on, Afi1 ix. 5· His. face. ':: is .towards.helJ, his back towards heav'en; and therefore .,. God c:alls him to turn • .He-loves what he fhould hate, .'and ;'/ hates what he lb.ould love.;. joys.in what he ought to.mour_n · r -'for, and mourns for what .he {hould rej oice .in ;..glor.ieth in . ~is fhame~ ·and.is ailiamed of hi? glory ; .abhors what :h-: ·· ." ·lho'uld defire, and deiires wJut he ·{hould abhor,. Prov. ii . ' · 13, I 4, 15. They hit upon t,Pe -point indeed (a~ Caiaphar • did in artothell" cafe) who ct ied.out on the apo.£lles.-as. men :tha t :.:·· rurned the rwor:/d~upjidc do-rJ.m, Aets.xvii. 6; for that is th e ,. ,work the gofpel has to do in the world, where fin has put . .,all things .fthout oforder, tha-t heaveR lies under, an? eart h ':: a top. If the uor.ene\ved man's·affeCtions be fet on lawfu l . •,: ·objetls:, 'then .they ate ei ther exceffive, or defeaive. Law– .;·f ul enjoyments ·~ofthe world have fomtimes too little, out mofily too much of them : either they get not .their due ; ,::·,m, it they do, ids meafure prejfed /r;wn, and rrmning over• .Spiritilal'thiogs bave always too litt_Je ofthern. In a. word, -:they are always in, or ov~r; never ~igbt, only -. evi'l. · ' Now here is a threefold cord againfLheaven and holi– ; nefs, not eaftly broken ; a blind mind, a_. perverfe will, and ....:cliforde rlydiffempered affeCtions. The mind fweiJed with . felf:-concejt, fays, The man l fuould., not fioop; the will ~oppofitc to the will oLG~d, fays, He will not ; and the / corrupt aff~Ctions . iiu~g,.again(t the Lot:d, in -defence of the ·corrupt wit'J;' fay, ·He will not. Thus.. the: poor: creatl1re Hands out a:gainft;God and goodnefs; till 'a day ,.of.·power come, in which he is· made a new creature . .IV. 7he ci~Jciencc is corrupt and defil~d, Tit. i. 1 5. · I t . 'is an evil eye, thaffills one's .converfation with much dark– nefs and confufion ; ·being natura11y unable to do its office 9 till the Lord, by,Jettiog ir;~ a new light to the foul, awake r; t he confcience ; it remains fleepy and unaC'l:ive. Confcience. 'can never do its work, but according to the light it h~th .to . ~ork by. . Wherefore (eeing the natural man c~0!10't fpir i– '·J~.tlllly difcern .fpiritu_al :things,'( 1 Cot:,• ii, .14.) thecoQfctence .H .- n~• -
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