'I he Jure 'Trial of VprightJJefs. - ----:th---:e1:-nq-u-:- ifit---:io-na-n---:dJ:-ud:-ic-at-ure of Confcience : Wealth and Wickctlnefs harden them again a the m?fi ienous Couniels, the mofl: folemn Reproofs and ardent Exhortations : They arc blmd to the Sun, and deaf to Thunder; bur a Jharp AfRiction clears the Eyes, un. locks the Ears, opens the Heart, and pricks the tender Vein. The awaken'd Penitent will make an exact fearch to find out the Ac!Jalt, the Troublcr of the Soul, and the fpecial Sm IS fo 111 the Imerpreranon of the vtgilant and affhcted Confctencc. The birrer remembrance of that Sin is anfwcrable to its Guilt; the mmc it was indulg'd, the more the Law of God was defpis'd, the more it wounds the Spirit : When the Pleafure is pail, nothing remains but the Sting and Poifon. Jofepl/s Brethren, who fo loog had been mfenfible of t heir treacherous felling him to Bondage and Mtfery ; yet 111 their Fears Confcience remembers it with Aggravations of their unnatural Cruelty: And they faid one to another, We are -uerily guii!J concerning our Brother, in that we fmv the a11guijh of bis Soul, when he befougbt us, anti we would not hear; tberefore is this diflrefs come upon us. La!tly, Confider the feveral kinds of Sins to find out your own: Some are of Omillion, fome of Commifiion; fome are Spirirual and Inward; fome are Carnal, and acted with Noife and Notice; fome di!\inctly flow from vifible Caufes ; fome fpring from an unfufpcCted Fountain. There arc many of a civil compos' cl Converfation, who arecarclefs of fpirirual Duties, of holy Communion with God by raifed folemn Thoughts, and ardent dclircs, of watchfulnefs over their Hearts, to regulate their Aims and Affections by the pure Law, and are infenfible of their Neglect anJ Guilt. The unrenewed Nature has a !lrong reluctance againft fpirimal Duties. Many are righteous to Men, and unrighteous towards God; they do not pay thofe Duties tlm are indifpenfibly from reafonable Creatures to the bleifed Creator: rhe highefi·Love for his Perfections and Benefits, an obedient refpect to his Comrnands.in their ACtions, a rcfigned filbmiflion ro his Will and Wifdom, an entire rru!l: in his fatherly Providence, and zeal for his Glory. Many rob him of that Time that is con!ecrared to his Service: The Lord's Day, (rho' 'tis our Privilege as well as Duty to keep it Holy) when the Publick Wodhip is at an end, as if the.remainder were unfanctified, they wretchedly wafrc in complemental Vifirs, in civil Matters, in Difcourfes impertinent to the folemri Work Of it. Many who are diligent to provide for their Families, yet arc as bad as InfidelS in neglecting to inilruct their Children and Servants in rhe faving Doctrine of the Gofpel, to command them to be circumfpcct in their Ways, to fer before them a living Pattern of Holinefs, and carelcfly fulfer their precious Souls to peri!h for ever. How many who are nor guilty of open rebellious Sins again!l: the Law, yet neglect the great indifpenfiblc Duty of the Golpel, an humble, unfeigned, entire clofing with Chri!l: as their Prince and Saviour. They prefume upon their moral Verrues, of the Safety and Goodnefs of their Condition : They never had a feeling fenfe of their want of the imputed Righreoufnefs of Chri!l: to reconcile them to God, nor of the Holy Spirit to make them partakers of the Divine N atme ; as if only t~e Prophane, ~iotous, notorious ~inners, had need of his mofl: precious ~erits and Mcdtacion to aboltfh their Guilt, and fave them from He~, and ofthe Holy Spint to fanctific them. From hence it is that many civil Perfons remam in anunrcnewedSrate, and are the natural Subjects of Satan, and die in their Sins. Some are regular in a courfC of Religious Duties, they pray, hear. the Word, receive the Sacrament, but without rhofe Holy Affections that arc the Life of Re-ligious Duties, yet content thcrnfelvcs with rhe external bodily Service, which is neither pleafing ro God nor profitable to their Souls. Some cherifl1 a fecret Pride that they are not fo bad as others; fomc a vain Prefumption of the Divine Favour, becaufc they ferve God in a purer way of Worfhip than others, when they neglect fubfl:antial Religion that recomme~ds us to his gracious Eye. Some will feverely r~Aect up.on the vifible Sins of ~thers, wlulil there is an unperceiv'd Confumption of the fp~rirual Ltfe in rhemfelves. Tins may feem to proceed from rhe Hatred of Sin, when the real inward Motive is to q~, t::~ Cor.· fcicnce by an appearance of Zeal againll: Sin, and make it inobfcrvant of thetr mward ;~;;nl~~~e?fe;,~~s~" r~:~er:A~~teflfi~fuY~~~i~~;m~~ ~~u~~~~f~,~d ~~~;i~~~.t%n:; to be mtflakcn for Divme Graces. Briefly, the Heart ts an everlaflmg DecetY~r, and without a perpetual watchfulncfs, we are in danger of clofe Corruptions that will bla~ our Sincerity. To find our our Sin, 'ris requilirc to fearch where we may think there IS little reafon to expect the finding it. 2. I will now confider what the preferving himfclf from hi s peculiar Sin implies. '. An abfiaining from the practice of that Sin. When David h~d an opporruniry tQ de!l:roy Saul, his unrighteous and implacable Enemy, and fecure h1mfelf, when cxCJt~~
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