:C 0 N ·s C I E N 'c E A W I T N E S S. Book IV. ·2. A 'drowzy and fieepy Confcience'is not a good Confcien:e. A Confcience rhat is -not thoroughly awakened, viill :let a Man alone in Sin; fuch c•n fieep upon .the Blink of the greacefl: Danger, though they be jufl: falling into the G.ulph of Eternit.y; yea,. can ileep under the mofl::a,vakening Minifl:ry; though Hell Fire be thrown, as it were, in their very Faces, yet' Conlciencc giveth them not one Jog. 3· ·A guilty Confcience is not a good Confcience, when Confcience.Aies into a Man's Face for this or that Sin, ·fome horriJ Pollution or other, loved, and lived in, Tit. i. I 6· 4· A feared Confcicnce, a Confcience that h:uh no feeling in.it, is not a good Con– fcience. 5· A ·defpaiTing Confcience i• not a good ·Confcience. Such as think their Sins aro greater than God can or will forgive, notwi<hlbnding Chrifl: bath laid, All Sins and Blafphemies agaiP.flthe Father and the Son jhall be forzivm unto !Wen, Jv[att. xii. 31. and thole, that believe not there is Life for them in Chrifr, make God a l..iar. ·Secondly, Pojitively. •r. That Man·bath a .good Confcience, that walks uprighrly and faithful ly to his Light, according to what he knoweth. If he hath only a natural L:ghr, and walks ·up faithfully to.that, then he hath only a natural good Con!Cience; there is moral ·Sincerity.fpoken of in the holy Scriptmes, as well as godly Sincerity. Abimelech in this rcfpeCl: had a good Confcience: In the Sincerity of my Heart, .and Ir,nocenry of my Ha11ds, have l done this, John xx. 4· Gen. xx. 5· H ere I might lhew how a natmal good Confcience may be known from a Confci– .e\lCe evangehcally and fpiritually good; take two or three Hints. ( 1 .) He whofe Confcience is only naturally good, is ufually a proud Man; Lcrd, I thank thee, I am not as other Men, &c. Luke xviii. . I'. :Such feek their own Glorv, they facrifice to their own NN, and burn lncenfe to their .own.Drag; all centres in Seff, the Principle of their Action is Sdf. A Saint, when his Gif:s are higheft, his Heart is l.oweft; when his Spirit is mO'fl: raifed, his Heart is mofl: humble. (2.) A Man th<lt hath only a natural good Confcience, his great endeavor is to flill the Noife, and frop the Mouth of it; but never .looks to have the Guilt removed, and Filth wa!hed away by Chrifr's Blood; he feeth no oeed of a Savior: I was alive once 'li.lithout"'h~ Law, &c. Rom. vii. r r. He. is lik-e a Child that hath got a .Thorn in his Fle!h, who wipeth away the Blood, but taketh.no Notice or Thought how to get our the Thorn. If bare Performance of Duties, whether natural or drvine, will frill or quiet the Confcience, the Confcience is but naturally _good. 2. When Confcience compares a Ma<i's Ways by the perfect·Rule of .God's ·wore!, by which he walks, and finds it agreeable therew. 3· An evangelical good Confci€nce findeth .a Man as careftil of his Duty towards ·God, ;>s·he is of his'Dury towards Man; and as c·areful of his Duty towards Man, as of his Duty towards God. Herei;l do I exercife mJfelf, to have always a Confience void of Offence towards God, aud towJrds lvlan, /Ills xxiv. I 6. 4· An e~angelical good Confcience always llirs u,p to Obedience .and Conformity to God's Word, from the Sight of the Excellency of ir, and Purity that is in it: lhy Word is very pure, therefore thy Servant loveth it, Pfal. cxix. 5· He hath a good Confcience, whofe Conviction and Trouble for Sin is univerfal, when it is deep, when the Spirit fearcheth into the Bottom: Come, faith the Woman of Samaria, fee a Ma;, that bath told me all that ever I diJi. And the)' were pricked in their Hearts, John iv. 29, 39· 6. He hath an evangelical good Confcience, who is ttocibled for Sin, not Iimply be– caufe Of Shame, or becaufe of inward Guilt, or tear of.Puni1hment, but becaufe GoU is and hath been offended, his Spirit grieved, a<ld his 'Soul defiled, and made unlike God; his·Trouble riferh fronHhe Senle ·of the heinous Nature of Sin. 7· When Confcience findeth that no 'Conviction, either of Sin or Duty, is Oighted by the Soul, but tenderly nourirnerl, Pftl. ~xix, 8o. · 8. Wh~n a Man will fufler any Pcmilhment or Lof~, before he will offer violence to his Confcience, and fin againft.God. 9· 'ill hen Confcience cannot find any Sin hid, fpared, borne wirh, or connived at in the Sotil, no fweer Morfel under the Tongue. xo. When Confcience'finds a Man :he fame in private that he is in publick, and that he is not of a pharifaical $pirir, rloth nothing to b.e feen of Men, or for vain Glory's fake. 11. When
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