!' creadcon. isncc, Confcienee dciiarnmcd, 136 .?Tendfe whichare ivaIy to be accufed. It huh fpread it felfe over mankind asgenerallyasoriginall time : and therefore it is tobe found in all men that comeofAdam by ordinariegene- ration, Thepropertie ofit is, with all the power it had:, to accule and con- demne; and thereby to make a man afraidof the prefence ofGod , and to caufe him to flie horn God as from an enernie. This the Lord figniñed when hefaidtoAclan', datamwhereartthou? WhenPeter law forne little glimbringofthepower and.niaieffieotGod in the greatdraught offtíh,he fellon his knees-and laid to Chrifi, Lord,goefrosa.rrefar I vn. (nnefullHaan. Euill confcience is eitherdeadorftirring. Dead"confcience is that,which though itcan doe nothing but accufe, yet commonly it lies quiet, accufing little or nothing at all. The caufes why confcience lieth dead inall men, either moreorleffe, are many._ L Defeat of reafon car vnderflanding incrated braines. I I. Vi- olcnccand ffrength of afregions, which as a cloud doe ouercafi theminde, and asá gulfe ofwater fwallowvpthe iudgement and reafon: and thereby hinder the confcience fronracenfing :for when reafoncannotdoehispart, thenconfcience dothnothing. For example: fomeonein his rage behaues him:elfelike a madde man., and willingly commits any mifchiefewithout coat olmentofconfcience: butwhenchol lerisdowne,hebeginnestobea. (hamedand troubled in hiiitnfelf;,nat alwaies bygrace,buteuenby the force ofhis naturall confcience, which when afferaioniscalmed begins tofiirre, as appeareth in the exampleof:Cain. III. Ignorance ofGodswill and amours in iudgement eaure the confcience tobe quiet, when it ought to ac- cufe. This we finde by experience in the deaths ofobfiinate heretikes,which Puffer fortheir damnable opinions without check,. ofconfcience. Dead confcience bath twodegrees.. The firfl is the flumbringor the be nummed confcience; the fecond is the fearedconfcience. Thebemomedconfcience is that which Both not accule aman for any frnne sinléffeit be grieuousor capitali; and not alwaies for thatbut oneiyin the time offome grieuous ficknes or calamitie. Iofephs brethrenwere not much troubled in confciencefor their villanie in felling their brothertill of terward when they were afflicted with famine and diffreff^ed in Egypt, Gen.4z.z. This is the confcience that commonly raignes in the hearts of droufie Protehants,ofall carnali and lukewarme gofpellers, andoffilch as arecommonly rearmed ciuill honefi men-, whole apparant integritie will not free them fromguiltie confciences. Such a confcience istobe takenheede ofvs,asbeeingmo(z daungerous. It is like a wild beaft,which fo long as he lies afleepe, feerries very tameand gentle,and hurts n:oman: but when heidroufed,he then awakes and flies in amans face,and offerstopull Out hi-sthroat. Mid fo it is the mannerofdead confcience,tolieDill and'quiet euen:thtough the courle ofa mans life:and hereupon a man would thinke(as moli doe)that it were a good confcience indeede:abut when ficknes or death approcheth, it beeing awaked by the hand
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