to the Chriftian, to have all thefe ttryfting together in his cafe,even.while he i$ here fojourning in the earth ? Doubt- lets it muff. The firff Ufe of this Doctrine ferves for exhorting and befeeching you all to fludy, and be in love with a good Confcience; 'tis unknown what folid Tweet peace and joy ye may have by it : O endeavour, through grace, to be fo tender, ftraight and upright in your aim to have a good Confcience in all things, that,when ye refle& on your way, ye may have its good teftimony ; there will moft certainly be more peace found in this, than in the great- eft abundance of all earthly comforts, tho' combined to- gether at their very beft : Can any of thefe calm a man's mind in a form of challenges for fin, and of the terrors of death ? Do they not often rather leave men in greater anxiety and perplexity, than if they had never enjoyed them ? Yea, often in the very mean time of thefe en- joyments, and in the midit of the carnal joy and laugh- ter that refults from them, the heart is fad, through the want of the teftimony of a good Confcience. Therefore we exhort you, in the name of the Lord, as ye would have a pleafant and cheerful life, and a comfortable and joyful death, labour to have a good Confcience in all things, that, when ye refle& on it, it may left ify for, and fpeak good of, and to you ; this (as Solomon Pays) is a continual feafi in life, and a fovereign cordial againft the terror of death. The zd Ufe ferves to Iet us fee the rife, reafon and caufe of the great anxiety, perplexity and vexation, that is among moff men, fo that they toil night and day, and have no fatisfa&ion ; its even this, that they do not feek after the peace and joy that are founded upon, and refult from, the teftimony of a good Confcience ; no wonder that fuch perlons live and die utter ftrangers to all folid peace and joy, which only grow on this root. This is a main caufe alto of the little peace, and great heartlefnefs, that is among even believers themfelves, that either they are not fo fcrioufly endeavouring to have the teftimony of a good Confcience, or they are not fo careful to draw their rejoicing from it, but are unten- der in their walk, or are, as fo many bees, flying from- this
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