dnExpojition of the EpifUe ~will not acknowledg themfelves to be in ~uch a State? butbecaufe carnal -Reafon ~ ufeth all the Strength It bath to bmld up h1gh Towers,and plods how to get plaufi- . ble Shifts and Pretences how to flatter a Man's Soul; And a Natural Man thinks he is in a good Condition, th~refore all the Reafon a Man bath is mainly exerci– fed in this Oifpute ofhis Confc1ence, and reafoning in his Heart, about the Good– nefs of his Eftate. But when a Man comes to be humbled and believes all thefc reafonings turn on the other fide, and ufe as much Stre~gth to objeCt 'why he fl10uld not have Mercies, and that he muft do thus and thus before he co:nes to believe? Never any comes to believe? if he will go the way ofreafoning,while he confiders h1s dead Soul; as Abraham,If~e had confideredhis dead Body,would not have believed. Self-Flattery m a Man IS the general Reafon that leads him on in ' a wa~ contrary to Faith, for he thinks he is in a good Eftate, for he muft lofe fuch O~m10n of himtelf, before he can beheve ; then when Self-Flattery is kill'd, and Fanhcomestolead up all her Forces, thencomesUnbelief and fires Confcience and turns.all the Word anothe: way;_ that there is more ado to raife a Man up t~ bottom h1s Heart, and to reft m Chnft, than to humble a Man and to let him fee his Natural Condition. You fee that Wifdom and Reafon (all of it) conduceth not to Faith, but is all againft it. You have another Principle in you, there is a great deal ofhope from th>twhich is a good Principle, and that is_your Confcience, it is indeed the beft thing in a Man. But take Natural Confc1ence, tho never fo much enhghtned, let it remain flill in that Efl:ate which by Nature a Man wasin, and it conduceth nothing to be• lieving; nay it is the greatefl: Enemy to Faith that a Man bath. Confcience I con– fefs is ogood Principle, it bath Goodnefs in it;tho it is defil'd,yet there is a Moral Goodnefs in it; it tells him of his Sinfulnefs, but it will not help him a whit to be– lieve. Come to Confcience, itwill fet you on doing the clean contrary, and put you out ofthe way, and it will not direll: you one Foot of the wayofFaith: .what the Law lays, it bath an Ear to that, but it is Deafto what the Gofpel uith; as for Mofes we know him, but this Man we know not. Nay, which is more, your Confcience enlightned, will help to difcover all forts ofSin, but Confcience alone will never difcover Unbeliefto you in the bottom ofit; of other Sins Confcience enlightned,will tell a Man roundly, but not ofUnbelief, John 16.8. It is the Spirit that convinceth o[Si11. Two Sins there are,which(the Truth is)are out ofthe Jurifdi– C\ionofConfcience to let home on the Heart, ordinarily one is the Guilt ofAdam's firft Sin; Herea Man's Confcience alone cannot help him,it is through Spiritual dif– cerning hemull: fee the CorruptionofNature.The other is the Vanity ofThoughts. What comes in the compafs ofthe Law, that the Heart and Confcience will tell a Man of: But come to a Man that is troubled inConfcience, he will make no Con– fcience of believing, as ifthere were no command for it. They think they do well to argue againfl: themfelves, and refute the Promifes, it is ordinary for them to do [o ; Men will cave! at the Promifes, but to look on Faith as the great Comfort, and to have an Heart difcerning, and to have Unbelieffet home on a Man's Soul, . and to C1y that I mull: ofneceffity believe; Confcience will not do, it is the work ofthe Spirit on our Hearts that mull: do it. This is a great Truth, nothing will help you fo to know the Nature ofFaith as this thing. I am to [peak of Confci– ence not fi1bordinate to Faith,as in Man it is not; it is the greatefl: Enemy to Faith as can be, it is the greatefl: hindrance of believing, in refpell: of the guilt of Sin. What is a great hindrance to you in the way ofbelieving?it is the greatnefs ofyour Sins, your Hearts miC-give you. I fl1all not !hew you how to take it away, for that is another thing ; But this is all, I i11tmd to fhewyo11 the Guilt ofSi11 iU 011 the Cmzfrience: which Confcience is it that raifeth it up, and conjures it up. lt is Confcience is the Subjell: ofit. It's call'd an evil Confcience, that reprefents to a Man that Sin is good, yet it'scall'd evil alto, becaufe that the State of aMan is e– vil. What keeps Men from believing ? the greatnefs oftheir Sins. When Con– fcicnce is awake (what prcfents their Sin !till to them is Confcience) all your dlf– couragement is from your Confcience unfprinkled with the Blood ofChnft. Con– fcience bath not learnt the Le!fon from Faith; it bath not dipt it felfm the Blood of Chrifl:: I fit had,it would be quiet, and not be fuggefl:ing Sin, fo as to difcou– rage a poor Soul when he looks on Sin [o finful, and when be looks on Sm ['? as to difcourage him. When Confcience cloth this, he bids Chri!l: depart from htm ; . _ · for
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