Opened and ApPlied. S E C T. II. IN reoanl of the quicknefs and power of the life of Confcience; whether it be 2 ;atural ConfCience awakened, or a fpiritual Confcience awakened; it is wich Confcience as it is with a prifoner i? a hou~e;though ~11 in the houfe fleep, yet he is bonnd,he cannot, and hence he 1s fpeakmg, and w1ll awaken the houfe; fo Confcience bath known, Thefe tins I have watched againlt, and been humbled for, thefe duties I have done ; bur now,Now faith Confcience, you negIecr chem now you are worfe, now fallen ; now a man !tarries, efpecia1ly when one !lands at rhe door, and calls to Confcience it will awaken; fowhen there is aword tQ call, Confcience will be crying ever and anon within, efpecially when any hope or leifure to fpeak with any as they pafsby; fo it will rake men fomerimes in their fields , and talk with them, and chide them ; Security grci':S up eatily, btttth:= awake~ing light of confcienc::e cannot be f0on d1;me out m any man; hence fomeumes a man fleeps, and rhen awakens agam ; Hence Rvm.z.I 5· Though they had many tins, yet it would accufe and excufe; as rhofe that are come out of their own Country ro dwell in another, or from a • ureat eLtate in a mean condition , they cannot eatily forger their friends ~nd tdations, bur in time it wears away, Prov.20.17. Confcienc::e is Gods candle, it vvilllhine, and is not ealily put out. 2. Becaufe the Lord doch never depart from men but by degrees, and hence fecuriry falls upon men by degrees; when God is near unto men, then ufually they be awakened, as the lfraelim before the Mounr. Now the Lord ro lhew the riches of his patience and long fuffering , he will nGt depart fuddenly, and leave the Soul in a dead and fluogilh eflate. And hence the Cherub1ms glory E""e~ 9· Io,II. departed by degrees. Ifa. 29.10. with q. • God cloth not fo deal, as prefently to clofe th~ir eyes quire up, bucrhey are awakened to draw nigh to God with their lips, which is of God, and then the Lord cloferh up ~heir eyes;never can aman be cafl into a deep f!eep,rill theLord faith Sleep on, or till God clofe his eyes; and that he cloth not prefemly; as to the D1fciples he comes a fecond and third time.• 3.Becaufe this is rh:: moll ready way and method fOr tin and Satan to bring rhe Soul into a deep f!eep, nay,to make them give themfelves to fleep,which is that Ae aims at ; look as it is with rhofe that fell things, ~heir fcope is not to put off their commodities, but to put them off fo as they may have money or moneys worth for them ; fo it is here, the fcope of Satan is not only to bring men into fecuriry, to give them eafe and peace, LtJk,.. x 1.21. but to have his money, that the Soul may give it felf to 1t: Now as it is in buying of Fruit~, · Sugars, Wines or Strong-waters, they will not buy all prefenrly, nor buy ' before they fee and rafle, they know not whether ris good or no, orwhether they lhall need it all or no: So here, to lie in fuch a fecure condition, as to negleCt all means, to be ha:rdned after all fins, this Satan will not offer, nor will men buy, or give themfelves to tais, they know not whether this be good or no, lefs will ferverhem; and hence tafle firflalinle f!umber and fleep, and fo call for a little and a little more until a man is a beggar, Prov.6.xo. as at firf! in Paradife ; firH look, ~en tafle, then eat; fo here. sECT. III. DO not think you are out of a flare of carnal fecuciry, b~caufe you have many rimes fame quickenings and revivings of heart, b~caufe they may be I ' 3 Rct<Jo/J i.
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