&rmöm O. wherein they have been put to think fo hardly of them felves (and not againft the prefent light of their own Confcience neither) prove, that Confcience may fpeak fo and fo hardly to them concerning their unfound and hy- pocritical Bate, and yet without ground ; efpecially, when it holdeth not at the negation or fitfpenfion of its comfortable teftimony concerning their gracious Rate, but pofitively afferteth the believer's being in black na- ture Rill, and fo in an evil Rate. z. Confcience may challenge for that which is not fin, and fo for that which it hath no ground to challenge for ; as we may fee, i Cor. S. 7. compared with the penult verfe : In the 7th verfe,the apofiie faith, There is not in every man a like knowledge : For force, with Confcience of the idol, eat it, as a thing of- fered to an idol ; and their Confcience being Weak, is defi- led ; And, v. 1z. he faith, that their Confcienee being weak, is wounded. Their light being weak, and fuppo- ling fuch a thing to be wrong, when it was not fo, they were challenged by their Confcience without juft ground : Thus it is very ordinary for young beginners in religion to be pierced and wounded with challenges for many things, that there who are more firong, and fully grown, will not at all be troubled for, neither have ground to be troubled for ; as thefe who could eat every fort of meat, asking no quefiion for Confcience fake. 3. Confci- ence may challenge for a fin that bath been pardoned, as if it were not pardoned ; yea, it may challenge for a fin, the pardon whereof bath been intimated ; as we may fee in David and fob, who were pardoned, and yet un- der their a$li&ion ; the fins of their youth did Rare them in the face : And the Confcience will readily challenge for old iniquities, tho' pardoned, either when believers break out into force new a& of grofs fin, as we fee in David's cafe ; or when they are under force extraordi- nary and very fadly circumftantiated difpenfation of pro- vidence, forely affàulted by tentation and unbelief, cry- ing loud,as it were, All is wrong there;. as it was in a mea- lure with holy rob. '. We faid, that force things may be taken for the language of Confcience, which are not ; or we may mil.-- take Confcience, and think that it fpeaketh I.() and fo,
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