Renewing of the Coll[cience. riclfl fiurh is a great Help to purifie the Heart, and to keep the Confcicnce clear and inoffenfivc. (1.) A jujfi(ying Faitll alfo is of great ufe to purifte the C:onfciencc: And this it doth :z.,. not morally by any natural Influence or Efficacy of Its own, but only myjlicaOy, ~~ !.Jilh as it appl ics'to the Soul rh~ Blood of Jefu_s Chri~, that Blood alone that rakes away J~~tif,;{" the Defilement of our ~ms_. _A~ hiftor~cal F~ah m~y keep the Soul from ~antra- the c 111 p;. tling Defilement but this jujfi.fymg, thiS favmg Faah, ws.fhes out the Sral!ls and mu m 1 (1i. Defilements that 'we have contraCled, and makes us white and fpotlefs in the Blood ea/If, of the Lamb. Faith is that Conveyance that God hath appointed to bring the Blood of Chrift to ftrcam forth upon the defiled Soul and Confcicncc; and npon every renewed Act of Sin we ought, by a renewed ~a of J!aith, to lay our fpotted and defiled Souls under the fail of that Fountam that IS fer open to wafh and cleanfe us from our Filth and Pollution. Thus Faith deanfeth the Cotlfcic:nce myfikally; and by the AChngs of Faith, we may thus get and keep our Confcic:nces clear and inoffcnfivc. · ' Fifthly, If )'OU would keep your Confciences clear, then [u a /1ri£HVatch ~tndGuard upon )'OUt fol11CJ1 both upon JGUr inwatd end upon yout outward Alm1. Set a Guard to your s. Heart, and to all the Approaches to your Heart. Set" Jlrifl W:ttrb 41/d G:;nrd urn JOUr ftlves. ( 1 .) Kup a n..:now Gum·d upon your Hum. The Heart is 'the greet mteting r. Place~ 1vhere Objeas, Thoughts and Affections do fwarm and crowd together: Su a_ And as much concourfe leaves Dirt behind it 11pon the Place, fo this great Heart~. Gm1rd Alfembly ufually leaves it foul and poUuted. Our Saviour, Mark 9· tells the JerrJJ, hon .Jour That it was that ·which was within them, that Wickednefs which lay latent in their <m. Hearts, that which proceedeth from the Heart that dtfiles the Man. There is a Defilement in the Thoughts and in the De fires, as well as in the more gt ofs and bulky Sins of the Life: H~ncc the Pro:rhct ']eremy fp~aks, ']cr. 4· 14. 0 Jcrufalcm, rM{h thine Heart from W1ckednejs! Why , wherew ith is it polluted? Why the next Words fhew it; How long jl~al{ thy 11ain Thoughts lodge within thee? Vain Thoughts leave a Stain and Contagion upon the Soul; and certainly if a vain Thought, that ,is fuch a fleeting and volitary Thing, breaths a kind of Contagion and Taint upon the Heart, they certainly then mu!t have foul Hearts indeed and I heir Spots in Grain, who lie foakingancl ftcwing themfelves in Unclean ) M.llicious and Covetous Thoughts and.Defigns. Since then that Confciencr: is apt ro recei.veTain t, but with the breathing of a vain and fin fu l Thought upon it, how doth it concern us then to keep a watchful and circnmfped Eyf over every Motion of our Hearts? It is the wifc Mt~n's Connfel as you have heard; Keep thy He11rt 1rith all diligcnce, for out of it «re the IJJucs of Life. Look to it, therefore, that you futfer not vour Hearts to be defiled with finful Thoughts or finful Affeaions, hy thofe inward and invifi.. blc CorrUptions that feule at the bottom of it; though the Life be never fo clear and cryfral, yet if that Mud be but ftitred and raif<:d, Conjc;ence becomes thereby defiled....and an evil Confcience. And therefore the Apoftle, r 77m. 1. )· j'oins them together, fpeak ing of a pure Heart and a good Confcience; but if the fteams of Luft rife up thick in the Heart, they defile and pollute the Confcicnce. Hence the Apoftlc agajn joins them together, Tu. 1. I~· a defiled Mind and defiled Confciencc; T-he Mit1d ~mtl Confcience, fays he, is defiled. How can thtt Mind Le defiled, unlefs it be with Sins of the Mind? Evil Thoughts and evil Affections) which as fprightly and aeriul as they fcem to be, yet they leave a Stain upon the Confcimce: As the brealh ir.g upon a Giafs fullies it, and dims the Reprefentation of rhe Face tha-t looks into it; fo the breathing of, evil Cogitations upon Conjciencc, the Ginfi of the Soul, leaves a Mift and Cloud u_pon it, that it can but dimlJ and darkly reprefent to us our true State. (2.} Watch diligently tU the HC4rt it {elf, jo tdi the App)'O.tchc; umo the Heart. The 2 . Approaches to the Heart arelike your Roads to a great City, which arc full of Pt>j: w.uchdili. fingers, and ufually iull of Dm alfo: And thefe are the Senfes by which and through gem!.f 11U which ObjcUs are continually travelling to the Heart, and carry with rh em a World r:e Approt" of Wickednefs. Thcfc are Sluces, \Vhich inftead of letting in pleafant s ·treams to ~~~r:~ t ~ refrelh, commonly !hey let in nothing but Mud , which-pollutes I he Soul. There is no aCtual Fild1 inefs ir1 the Hearts of any but what enters in by thefe lnlets; through thcfe the DeviL cafts in abundance of Fjlth, ftirs up and incrcafcth indwelling Lnft, and, by 1inful Objects that the Senfcs convey to the Soul, dungs Qqqqq ~K
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