IO The Doíïrine, Duty dudufefulneßofAffuranca. S zi e r. I. " may be putinto a found and right wayofholinefs. But how many goto fearch the grounds, principles and ends of their aftions with as much negligence, as fome officers do alehoufes and unlawful meetings ? theyare unwilling to fee the hiddenWork,! of darknef fie, Prov.z8.26. He that millet h in his own heart is a fool. It is defperatefolly tobelieve thy heart will deal truly with thee. Hence the Prophet feremiahcalleth it defperately Wicked, orcrafty, which willbeguile and deceive thee without much caution, infomuch that this duty of examination is but ridiculous, and a meet mockery , unlefs we refolve to become impartial Judges. It is likedifputing with the Church of Rome,whòhold the true Church cannot erre, and then that íhe is the true Church, whereby fhe becomes incu- rable and without hope of healing, Prov.i6.z. Every mans Way is clean in his Temptations own eyes, bat the Lord pondereth the heart!. This is one way to blinde us, but to unbelief. thenwe may runne into another extream by temptation of unbelief; and thus when a godly foul fet againft it felf, and taking every thing for hypocrite that he Ihall do, if in thiscafe he goeth toexamine himfelf, he will alto draw falfe conclufons; As thecarnal man failsthe formerway, fo the tempted Chrifhian doth the other way; The one believeth every thing to be done with a good heart, the other nothing; But as a man that would fee his face in the water, muft makeno commotionor trouble atall ; fo he that would rightly judge his heart, mutt take heed ofcarnal confidence onone fide,and unbeliefon the other z fide. Anerroneous A fecond dangerous principle is, WhenWe conclude that alien to be done We; 1 principle. Which isfor the mattergood, Whatfoever the principles, ends, motives or manner 6e. Thisdeftroyeth many thoufands, ?elmdid that which was according to Gods will, and this made him bold to fay he is zealous for God, Come fee my zeal, faithhe; but thoughhis allions were verygreat, andof high concernment to the ChurchofGod, yet God wouldbe avengedon himfor thefe, Hof,I.4.Who would thinkGod would be avenged on fehu for difpoffefling feroboam, killing Baals Priefts, making fo great a Reformation as he did? But becaufe he himfelf did not de, thefe things with an upright heart, therefore he is threatned. The Pharifees had In external righteoufnefs, but there was a great gulf between them d true od1nefs. Hence they arecalled 17pees, which though they have aglorious s in, yet arefull of poifon and how holy foever they appeared, yet like the Serpent they eat of the duffofthe earth, liveupon earthly advantages. Aman thereforehadneedbe Ea le-eyed, or like Ezekiel! living creatures full of eyeg, t a would fee into the ottom of hiswaygs : Thy profeflion, thy fa- mily-duties, thy re igious performances areplainly vifrble, every one that run- neth may readthem; but theends and motives are fecretand latent, the foun- dations and roots of things lie underground ; The trft letters in the book are garnifhed with many gaies, and we can hardly tell what they are. This made Paul diffinguifh between a Jew outwardly, and a Jew inwardly , circumcifiou of the flefhandcircumcifton of theheart ; Efpecially the end, and motive that doth fpecifie and diftinguifhmoral allions ; Twomay be in a family, both pray, both mourn forfinne, yet becaufeone isdoneupona pure motive and principle from God and to God, therefore it is right; and theother, becaufe its defeétive inone oftheft, is rejec'ted : who thenis fufficient and prepared for fo great a duty as this is ? 3. A third wayofmifguidance is, When We tryour!elvesby falfe Rules When We Toying our Weigh With falfeWeights ; This dutyof examinin and proving fu ofeththereis r1,,,byfalle fomefureitandard,whichifweg by, we arefare not tobedeceived, now talcs. that rule is thewordof God but as in matter of Dollrine men have left the . Scriptures the fure rule, and taken up antiquity, univerfality, tradition, and the like for their guide, and by thismeans have fallen into the ditch ; fo inmat- terof goellinefs, when we fhould try our felves according to the charzéters and figns
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