Durham - BV4615 D87 1732

X4 Z Serin on à. fwereth,it fore way filenceth Tuffs and finful paffions,whieil confutes, and (to (peak fo) put a perfon through other, fo there is not that ferenity and calmnefs that there is in the foul, when Confcience is asked at, and clearly an fwereth : The light of Confcience well informed, being the light of God, is clear and quieteth, th& often it be not fo fenfible to us, as our own inclinations and affe &ì- ons that agree better with us. 3 The anfwer of Con- fcience hath more influence on the man to humble and abafe him, and to make him vile in his own eyes, be- caufe it fpeaketh God's mind, it ferveth to exalt God, and to advance the work of mortification in himfelf : But where this is not, and men are foot-) made frothy and conceity, by the anfwer which they get, and the very firft refult of it, is to puff up and make vain ; it is Pure, at beff, but the anfwer of light, and not the an- fwer of Confcience, nor God's fpeaking in and by it. We (hall proceed no further at this time, that which we aim at, by all we have now faid, is, in a word, this, to Thew, that as upon the one fide ye should learn to give Confcience fore imployment, and feeing it can give you an anfwer, to pat it to it, and not to bear a- bout you fuck a noble counfellor and advifer, without making fuitable ufe of it ; lb upon the other fide, that ye may learn to know when Confcience fpeaketh, and what it fpeaketh, and that ye may give it obedience, when it fpeaketh according to the word : In a word, the right ufe_making of Confcience is intermixed and in- terweaved with the whole pra&ice of Chriftianity ; and where it is rightly obferved in one thing, there will be an honeft aim to obferve it in another, yea, in every thing : And this may be another difference betwixt the anfwer of Confcience and that of light only, or of any other thing, viz. that the fuppofed anfwer of Confci- ence, or of light in the judgment$ which is confiflent with loofnefs, is never to be taken" for the true anfwer of Confcience ; for, as we cannot keep communion with God, when we are not walking in his way, fo we have no warrant to expe& keeping of good correfpandence with our Confcience, becaufe the language of Confci- ence is God's language ; Therefore it is the duty of all.

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