136 Sermon 1. ,challenge, and accuse, or excufe, and approve accor- ingly. The 6th fort of a &ions are pafve (to fpeak fo) or fufferins, wherein Confcience hath a concert, and, tells the man, that he fhould fuffer as a Chriftian from fuch a principle, and for fuch ends; which he through grace endeavouring to do, Colfcience {peaks peace to him : And tho' another man ruder the fame very things, yet he may want that tettïmony ; becaufe he wants the grounds of it, his fufferings being deffitute of the requifite qualifications : And therefore we would never think a thing to be of fo little moment, that Confcience hath no concern in ir, we cannot do, fpeak, think, nor look, but Confcience hath fomething to fay of that deed, word, thought, or look, as it is circumftantiate ; either to ac- cule, if not as it ought to be, or to excufe and approve, if right, as to its requilites: The zd ufe is for trial of a fan &ified Confcience in a fan&ified frame, and for diff.rencing it from another Confcience that is not fo ; a fanCtified Confcience, and in a fan&ified frame, is always meddling with all the man's a &ions, not only when he is praying, hearing, reading, -or conferring to a fpiritual purpofe, but alto when he is buying or felling, eating or drinking, fpeaking or keep- ing filent, abroad or at home, alone or in company, &c. It is very like, that Paul had faid many things when he was a Pharifee, that his Confcience meddled not much with ; but now, being a ferious Chriftian, he cannot fpeak, nor write,. but his Confcience meddles with ir. In a word, a fan &ified Confcience is always going along with a man, is !fill with him, and letting him know that it is with him; and a fan &ified man will needs have, and loves to have, his Confcience conftantly with him The word Confcience in the original is fignificant, and Pays this much, that, when it is right, the Chriftian and it are joined together ; whereas an unfan&ified man parts company (as it were) with his Confcience, he loves not to take it, he will not take it with him, it is a burden to him, he would fain be rid of its company ; and it often efufeth to go along with him. 'Tis never the worft Con- - fcience that is often meddling, providing it be owned and -4ftned to when it meddleth; a fan&ified Coníclenco rneci- dletft
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