7 8 Serm2012 3. 'ris indeed on this ground, that merely civil men fo much magnify and cry up their Confcience, and place all their religion in that, being much darkned, and infenf bly prejudicate as to their light ; when they come up the length, or near the length of that light, Confcience fpeaketh, and giveth its teflimony accordingly, and they have thence a fort of peace, but it is not the peace of a truly good Confcience. 4. A natural man, or a hypo- crite, may come a great length in refpe& of the exter- nal duties of religion, and may have a kind of a good Confcience in that refpeer ; as, he may pray, and have force moral fincerity in it, and fo as he would fain have a hearing, and would tome way have his heart praying ;. nay, he may have a kind of delight in approaching to God, as 'tis faid of thofe hypocrites, Ifa. 58. 2. He ìvould fain know what is duty, and what is fm, and he doth not deliberately thwart with his light ; in this refpe &, Paul faith of hirnfelf before his converfion, That, as touching the righteoufnefs of the law, he was ¿lamelefs ; and, _Rom. io. I. he beareth the yews record, That they had a zeal of God, but riot according to knowledge: And what I pray was this, but Ccnfcierce uninformed in, and igno- rant of, the righteoufinefs of Cod ? From which ignorance of Christ's righteoufnefs, and of the way of coming to him, it came to pats that they went about to epabl fh their own righteoufne /s. So then the natural man, or hypo- crite, when he bath come the length of force honeif , àneaning, is difpofed to think that he hath done very well, and that he bath a good Confcience ; yet, tho' he may have a good Confcience in fame refpe&, or in thefe re- fpe&s mentioned, and the like, yet to have it firnply and poftively from folid and good grounds, giving him a good teflimony, is impoffible ; and the reafon is, be- caufe he bath not the word going along with his Confci- ence, in reference to his whole carriage, and in reference to the principles, motives, ends and defigns of his aeci- ons teíhifying for hits ; and therefore, I fay, he bath not the teftimony of a truly good Confcience. For the next queftion, Wherein is this Confcience de- feetive ? and what is the difference betwixt it and a be-. liever's good Confcience ? Or, how it may be known as differing
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