668 Of the Nature, Corruption a11d lf Uan un- (6.)_ A dr.ur Con{ciu;ce .affords Jwe_u and z.nfprakab/c Comforr in a dying hour. When fpeabblr_ all Thmgs J!lnft take the~r leave of us and we of them, whe":_D~a!h is fetting all CtJmf~rt rn its Terrors In Array agJmfr us, 0 what a ble!fed Support wnl lt then be to the 11 dJing departing Soul , !tanding on Tip-toe ready to take its Fli~ht into Eternity to be . b;ur. able to make that Appeal wh ich He:t.ekiah do.th , Ifa . 38. 3 ~ Rcmembrr no10 Q Lord I befeech t}Jee, how 1 have rvaiked before thee tn Truth wirh a prr[cU: Heart 'and ha....,; done that which i& good in tl;y fight . Such a Teft:imony as thi <; is, at fuch 1 a time as this is, is worth Heaven and Glot;y it felf; th1s is Lo have Heaven le t down into us one hour, and to b.e our felvcs taken up into Heaven the next hour. No,v pombly Men J!!aY fro lick away their pays. in Sin and Vanity, and_livc as if they Jhou_ld never g1ve a~ accou~t; but _behev_e It, the J?ay and Hour ~ s comine, and it wtll come, wheretn Confc1ence w1ll begin tc;> open u s Eyes, when Jt may be their Friends ft and round about them to clofe the1rs, and then it will fee thefe horrid Shapes of Death and Hell and Wrath eternal, fuch as while they were fccurc Sinners they never imagined, and now that they are awakned Sinners, and poJTibly awakned too late too, they can never efcape. If t herefore you would enjoy Peace an~ Serenity in your Death, and hath the Te!tif!iony of your Confciences to carry w1th you to fhew to your Judge for your Acqmttance, be fare then to cherifh a good Confcience in you r Life -time. Now it may be Confcience may be b1 ihcd to give in a falfe and flattering Teftimony, but when Eternity is in its view it will then fpeak Truth; and 0 thrice happy are they to whom a true Co1ifcience becomes then an excutl ng Confciencc. And fo much for the third Thing propounded , namely, of what concernment it is to labour, to keep Conftiences void of O]fcnce. (4.) Fourthly, The next Thing propounded was, To give youfome Rules and Dirc- &ions how you. may get, t~nd ttl{o how ; •ou may kup clear and inoffinjive Confciences, Objelf. But you will fay, It is in vain to give Rules for that which is impoffible to be done; Doth not the wife Man challenge all the World upon this Point, Prov. 20. 9 • ~Vho can fay I have made my Heart clean, I am pure from my Sins? Never did the raging Sea cafi: up more Mire and Filth than the Heart of Man doth; and as foon may we empty the vafr Wa ters of the great Deep, and fcour the bottom of it from all its Dirt and Mud , as attempt to keepConfcience clear, into which a finful Heart is continually emptying and pouring out its Filth and Mire. .Anfw. To this 1 .Anfrctr; Were it impoffible, yet there is no r eleafc to our Obligation: We are commanded To be H oly even as God is Holy, whofe infinite Purity is fuch as ft.ains the Heavens thcmfdves, and puts the glorious Angels out of Countenance: This PerfcC:Hon is much mo:e impoffible for us who are but Lumps of Dirt mingled -and kneaded together with Sin, than for a t hick Clod of Earth to be as tranfparent as the Sun that 01 ir. es; but yet thefe acceffive Commands have a ufe in them, even to raife up our Endeavours to a higher pitch and !t rain, than if we were commanded only fon~ewhat that were within our own PO\Ver l as he that. aims at a Star is like too fuoo t higher, than he that aims only at a Turf. Thus, though it were im~ poffible to keep cle11n Cortfcunces void of Offence both towards God aud Mm, and according to the exac1nefs of God's Command, yet he that is careful to avoid all Pollutions, both of Flefh and Spirit, fhall certainly have a much cleaner Confcience by far than he that wallows in tbofe Sins. In a foul way it is perhaps impoffiblc to keep our felves from being befpattered with Dirt, yet he that walks warily and carefully comes cleaner home than he that tumbles and rolls himfelf in it: But yet this Duty is not impoffible; it is indeed difficult to keep a clearConfcience, but yet it is a thing that is feafible: And in general there are two ways to keep our Confciences clear; either by preferving them from being defiled, or elfe by clean ling them when they are defiled. (1.) We may keep our Confi:iencts clet~r by preferving them from bring defiled. You wilt fay, How can this be? Is there any Man living, fays the wife Man, that doth goo4, ~tnd fir.neth not? And doth not every Sin leave behind it a fpot aud Ita in upon the Face of Confcience? How then can we keep them clear? l..Anfwcr; Sins are of two forts ; there are Sins that are Crimn, and there arc: Sins that are but FAults. Crimes 1 call thofe Sins that are branded for infamous both by God and Man, as Murder, Adultery, Blafphemy, and the like, at which. even natural Confcience recoils, fuch carnal Sins as affright Confdcnce and make it look pale and ghaftly. A c,ime I alfo call any fin tlllt is confubftantiated by an accefs of GuiU by the dreadful Aggravations of being committed knowingly and wllfully.
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