A 'IreatljeojCorljcience. 553 bya~yofhi' ~reatures for ruan:the confcience A within man will arrell him,and bring him be– fore God.It is the Iaylor to keepe man in pri· fon in bolts and yrons , that he may bee forth comming at the day of Judgement. It is the wimes toaccufc him, rhe Iudge to condc:mne I him,thchang-man to ex<COttllim,& the flafh· ings ofthe fire ofhell to torment him. Again, it makesaman to be an enemy toGod:becaufe it accufeth him to God,& makes him fly from God,as Adlmdid when he had finned.Alfo it makesaman to be his owne enemy, in that it cloth caufc him to lay violent hands vpon 'i himfelfc, &become his owne hangman,or his own cut ·throat. And on the contrary,a good– lconfcienceis a mans bell friend:when ail men B l intreat him hardly,it will fpeake himfaire and comforthim:it isa continuall feall, andapa– radife vpon earth.V. The Scripture lheweth, rhatthey which neuer fcekc good confcience, haue terrible ends. For either theydieblocks, as.ZV:abaldid; or they die defperate, as Cain, S•III,.Ach>tophd,l~dM. VI. We mulb:onfidcr often the terrible day ofiudgcment, in which cucry man mufl: receiue;: according to his do– \iogs. And that we may then be abfolued, the bcfl: way is to fed<e for a good confcience; for I ifour t:onfcknce be euili, and condemne vs in this life, God will much more condemnevs. And whereas we inufl: pa!fe thorough three iurlgemencs; the iudgement of mcn,the iudge– mont ofour confcicnce,and the fall iudgement c a(God: we !hall neuet be llrengthned againfl them, and ctearcd in them all, but by the fee– king of agood confcience. Sea ,, After thata man hath got good confcience, Mans fe. his fccond duty is to ketpe it. And as in the eond du- gouerning the fhip onthe fea, the Pilot hol– ryrokcep dingthehelme in his hand, hath alwaies an a~:~~~· eie ~0 thccomJ?afle; fo we likew~fe, in the ordcnngofour hues and conuerfattons, mull:: al– waieshaue a fpeciall regard toconfcience. That we may keepe good confcience, wee mull doe twothings; auoid the impediments thereof,and vfe conucnient preferuations. Impedimentsofgoodconfcience,are either in vs orforth ofvs.In vs,our owne finnes and cormptions. When mens bodies lie dead in D the earth , there breed cercaine wormes in them,whereby they arc conlitmed. Forofthe flefh come the worms that confume rhe flefh: butvnlc(fewe take great heed, our ofthe fins and corruptions ofour hearts,there will breed a worme a thoufandfold more terrible, euen thewormeofconftience thatneuer dieth; which 1 will inalingring manner waft: the confcience, the foule,and tne whole man; becaufe hefhall be alwaies dying, and ucuer dead. Thefe fins are lpedally three; ignorance,vnmortified af· fecbons,worldly lufl:s. Touching the firfl:,namely ignorance, itis a great and vfuall impediment of good confci– en••·For \V hen the mind erreth·or mifconcei1 ueth,it doth mifieadcthe d>fcience,& deceiue chewholcman. The way to auoyd this impedimetis,to do our indeauour that wemay dai· ly increafe in the knowledge of the word of God,thatir may dwell in vsplentifully:tothis end we mull pray with Dauid, thathewou!d open our eics, that we might vndedhnd the wondersofhis law:and withall,wemull daily fearch theScripturesfor vnderlliding,as men vfe ro fearch the mines of the earth for gold ore,Prou.2·4·Lafl:ly,we mull labour for fpiri· mall wifedome, that w~mighthaue rhe right vfeofGods word in wery particular adiom that being by itdireded.we may difcern what we may with good ciifciece door leaue vndon The fccond impediment, isvnfl:aied and vn· mortified affu'hons: which,ifthey haue their fwing 1 as wi!G horfes eucrnune the chariot with men and all,fo they oucrturoe and ouer– carry the iudgcment and ccnfcience of man: and therefore when they beare rule,good con– fcicnce takes no place. Now to preuent the dangerthar comes h<rcby, this courfe mufl: be followed. When we would haue afword or a knife not tohurt our felues,orothefs,we turne the edgeofit.And fo,tha~ we may preuentour al!eCl:ions from hurting &annoying the con– fcience, we mull: turne the courfe ofthem, by direCting them frhm our neighbours to our fclues aud our owu fins, orby inclining them toGod and Chrifl.For example: choller and auger dire<Rs it felfc vpon euery oceafion a– gainfl: cur neighbour, and thereby greatly in– dammageththe conftience. Now, the courfe ofitis tur,ed,when webegintobe difpleafed, and to be angry with our felues for our owne finnes. Our loue fetvpon the world is hurtfull to tllccon(cience, butwhen weopcebeginto . fetourlouconGodin Chrift, 'and to loue the blood ofChrifl: aboue all the world,then con– trariwife it isafurther:le ofgood confciencc. The third impediment,is worldly lufis,that is,thc louc and cxceeding.Jefire ofriches, ho– uours, pleafure. Euery man is aseAdam, his good confcienceis hisparadife; the forbidden fruit,is the!hogdefireefthefe earthly things; the ferpentis the old enemy the diuell: who if he may be futfcred to intagle vs with the loue ofthe world, wil ftraitwayputvs ontofour paradife, and barre vs from all geod confci– ence. The remedie is to learne tbe le!fon of Paul, Phil.4. I •• which is, in euery efl:atc in which God!ballplacevs,to be cootent,ellee– ming euermore the prefent condition the befl , forv• ali.Now thatthis le(fon may belcarned, we mufl: further labour to be refoluedofGods fpeciall prouidcnce toward vs , in euerycafe and conditionoflifet& when we hauefowell · profited in the fchoole ofChrifl:, that weecan fecand acknowledge Gods prouidence and. goodne!fe, aswell in ficknctfc as in health, iti' pouertie as in wealth, inhunger as in fi!lne(fe, in life as in death , we !hall be very well content, whatfoeuer any way bcfals vntovs. · The prcfcruatiuos ofgood confciencc are two, the firll, is topreleme and cherifh that fauing faith whereby weareperfivaded ofour tecon-
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