20z ¿'ermon 5 his body to be burnt for it ; therefore Paul Pays, that it was by the grace of God that he had his converfion in the world, and to them -ward. A 4th falle ground, that will not bear out a man, is, When he only puts hand to fome things, or duties of re_ ligion, without deigning and endeavouring in the whole ¡train and tra& of his way to perfeef holinefs in the fear of God, and to be pure as Chrifl is pure; and without allow - ing himfelf in any fits, or in the negle &fir or mifperfor- mance of any known duty : And the reafon of the un- foundnefs of this ground is, that, if a truly tender Con- fcience put a man to one duty, it will put him to all du- ties ; and, if it put him to abffain from one fin, it will put him to endeavour to abffain from all fins : And' Paul here gathers not his teftimony from one a&ion or two, but from the traer of his converfation. Now, if we lay by all thefe teeming and faire grounds, it will be found that many, yea, molt perfons, have but an empty and room teftimony, and a very ill-grounded and unwarrantable peace. For the third thing we propofed to be (poke to, viz. the grounds of a good teffirrony ; . we have them from the text here in five or fix fteps, fuppofing the matter to be right, as all along we have done: The firf is finglenels in a manes end, that he be not feeking himfelf, but God's honour mainly ; which is implied in that word, .iimpiicity. A tingle end conduces much to a man's peace ; 'pis a fine quo non to a joyful teftimony of, the Confcience, and the hrff ffep to it here. The fecund is godly fince- rity, which is, not only oppofre to more gross hypocrify, diffembling and counterfeiting, but contradiftinguifhed alto from merely moral fincerrity; 'tis not only to be ho- nett before men and (to fay fo) before the Confcience, but alfo before God ; I wis alfo upright before him, and in his eye fight, fags David, Pfal. 18. See to this purpofe Luke i. 6, 7 5. and what the fame apoffle lays in the following chapter, verfe laff, But as of God, in the fight of God fpeak we in Chri fi. This godly fincerity in a word is, when thro' grace a man walks fo as he may be approven and commended by God, and not by his own Confcience only, let be by men, by whom to be judged
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