e'mon betwixt a believer and an unbeliever : The one fingly ximeth, and ferioufly endeavoureth to have a good Con. fcience, and to walk fo, as in nothing he may offend his Confcience ; the other hath no fuch defign nor endea- vour: If then this doErine hold true, and if this be the believer's exercife, to walk fo as to pleafe his Confcience in all things, and in nothing to offend it ; fure fuch a Confcience is proper and peculiar to the believer, and fo may be an evidence of one that hath an intereft in Chrifi. This will be more clear, if we look, 1. To the ufe that the faints recorded in fcripture make of a good Con- fcience, and that the fcripture willeth and alloweth them to make of it, in their trials and troubles, in their ftraits and difficulties ; as, 2 Cor. 1. 12. This is our rejoicing, the leflimony of our Confcience, &c. And in this place Paul fleeth to it, as his refuge, and comforts himfelf by it, in and againft his prefent ftrait: Now, if it were not a chara&er and mark of a Chriftian indeed,it would not be, nor be allowed to be, made fuch a ground of peace and quietnefs to believers in their ftraits. z. It is clear from the nature of Confcience, its teftifying, which is not its own, or from and for itfelf only, but alto and principal-. ly from and for God ; therefore, i john 3. 19, 2.0, 21, 22. it is Paid, Hereby we know we are of the truth, and all affure our hearts before God. For if our hearts condemn' acs, God is greater than our hearts, and knówetb all things : But if our hearts condemn'us not, then have we confidence to- ward God. And,' Pet, 3. 21. 'tis called the anfwer ofa good Confcience; that is, fuch an anfwer as giveth quietnefs and a good teftimony to believers, when all fpeak againft them, or fpeak evil of them : Now, this anfwer of a good Confcience, is not a man's bare apprehenfion that his Con- fcience is good, but it takes in thefe three; I. Not only the Confcience its laying nothing againft the perfon, but pofitively fpeaking for him. z. It is filch a Confci- ence, as bath its teftimony grounded on the word of God. 3. 'Tis the teftimony of á Confcience foberly refle&ing on itfelf, and trying itfelf, in the major propofition, to wit, if fuch a thing be true ; and in the minor proporti- on n if fuch a thing be true in reference to itfelf in parti-
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