Burgess - BT715 B85 1654

~ to~ _ ·-CIIflsofColl{citntt Abours/nttritf enlightened him, Rom.7. He tells you how ignorant he wis of the fpiritudl fenfe of the L1w ; That -when the Law revived, vi~. in the fpirituall meaning ofir, he died, he had no h·ope or comfort in himfelf,: And as for that profeffion,ofhu ~414.,ing With ago~d confcience, that may ,very well relate to t-hat tin)e of his life fince his converfion t'o the ChrilHan faith, for onely or that time wag he accufed of his enemies: and fur• ther 1 ace>nfcienc,e m1y be faid tobe good two wayes; Either ftrft, Becaufe diretl:ed and enlightened by the ,Scripture; as alfo,cleanfcd and wafh~d by faith in Chrifis blood: fo his con– fcience wu not good. Or elfe fecondly, Becaufe its a quiet and comforted confcience,following that light and knowledge ic barb, though it be ~!together enormous ; and thus P~~~~ had a good confcience; and that might very well provoke Anani.u, for if he had agood confcience, they had a bad one to accufe him. Hence fecondly, There was asreat difference between P..~tNI · · and Nathanael, of whom Chrifr fa id, Behold A trHe Ifraelite in '*mm u nogHile: before he did exprefly profeffe his faith in that perfon,Chrift, as Cornelim the Centurion,ofwhom Ails 1 o. its faid, he ~.u 11 jNft man fearingGsd, and hu prayer \\?.u ~ttcepted of, before he- had an exprelfe faith in that indiv~• duall perfon, as the Meffias; for thefe indeed did b~leeve in a Mcffias to come ; and not only fo, but txpeded and waited · for him, and as foon as there was a fufficicnt manif~fiation of him to be the Chrifi,they believed. But PaNI, notwithftand· ingall thofe demonftrations and arguments to prove 'that p.er– fon to be the Mcffias, yet he did not only, not believe, but ~did wretchedly and violently oppofe Chritl:; and although he faid, Godhadmercy 9n him hecaH[e he did it ignorantI], yet that ignorance was not ofmeer negation, but atfeded,and ef a proud or evil difpofition, having the means to belie_ve, but did not. The two Particulars thus clcered, Jet as fee what Pvrul though unregcnerated, was unfeignecHn,and·wichout guile: And 1. We feehu ~eat W.u npon religiw-1ground!~ th011gh ~ot With k..nowle4t;e ()llf ofGods 'Word. Even as Paul glveth this re• ftimony to the Jewes, ' Th11t theJ h11d a~eat, hut not according to ' k_nowledge,

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