Chap .27. An Expofaton opon the Book of J o B. Verf .6. 63 Icience will be upon him prefently, and tell him his own. There fore he faid, My confciencefhall not reproachme ; 1 know it will,if T (hould do evil ; it is poffible for an ill man tohave a good con- fcience in its kind,chat is,a confcience naturally good, though nor morally good ; for when confcience doth itsoffice, it is anatural good confcience. The office of confcience is to reproach uswhen we do evil A wicked mans confcience may do that, it may tell him, he bath donc this or that finful evil, and fo deferves this or that penal evil. Again, it is poflible for a godly man tohave an ill confcience (in this fenfe) that is, aconfcience which doth not its office, as to fome particular, his confcience may beafleep, or not enlightned in force things ; his confcience may be muchout of order,aod unfit for the exercife and difcharge of its proper du- ty. When David had committed chofe horrible fins ofadultery, andmurther, his confcience was difcompofed and of the hinges for a whole yearc, it never reproached him,he was as a firanger to his own bofome ; till his fin was difcovered to him , it troubled himnot. But when Xathan came to him and ( havingmade him give fentence againfl another man in a Parable) told him plainly, thouart theman,his confcience quickly gavefentence againfl him- felf,and heconfeflíed,l havefinnedagaani tbeLord(2Sam.i Nothing bafides the blood of Chritf, can flop the voyce and (üll the cry of an awakened confcience. But being once thus purged, wehave no more confcience offns (Heb. 10.2.) that is, no more rebukes and reproaches of confcience for fin. They who know they are pardoned inChrif', make confcience of committing the leaft fin, but they have no confcience of the greate(i finscommitted. Thirdly, Obferve ; A godly; man is afraid of the chiding: and upbraidingsofbis own confcience. It is better to have the reproaches of all the men in the world fall upon us, than the reproaches of confcience, better that all the men in the world fhould call us hypocrite and wicked, than that confcience (hould tell us fo ; a godly man fears the accufation and fentence ofhis confcience, next to the judgment and fentence of (hod himfelf. Yea natural men many times are much afraid of their confcience:, and do therefore efchewevil, leftconfcience thould trouble them, and upon the fame terms they do good. They
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