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and thou wast not purged, therefore thou shall not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest on thee, Ezek. xxiv. 13.

Thus I have endeavoured to discover and remove the false grounds, and misapplication of true grounds, whereby the conscience is deluded, and brought into a dangerous and false peace.

To conclude, he that would not be deceived with a false peace instead of a true, must beware of obstinacy, delight in, and senselessness of sin. For this sears the conscience as with a hot iron, 1 Tim. iv. 2. Now a seared conscience is quiet with a false peace; not because there is no danger, but because it does not feel it. Great care must be taken therefore, lest the conscience be seared, being made senseless and hard; for then it does altogether, or for the most part, forbear to check or accuse for sin, be it never so heinous.

This searedness is caused by a wilful customary living in any sin; but especially by living in any gross sin, or in the allowance of, and delight in any known sin; also by allowed hypocrisy, and dissimulation in any thing, 1 Tim. iv. 2, and by doing any thing contrary to the clear light of nature, planted in a man's own head or heart, Rom. i. 27; Jude 10; Eph. iv. 18, 19; or contrary to the clear light of grace, shining in the motions of the Spirit, in the checks of conscience, and in the instructions of the word, Heb. x. 26.

Keep therefore the conscience tender by all means; (1.) By hearkening readily to the voice of the word; (2.) By a careful survey of your ways daily; (3.) By keeping the conscience soft with godly sorrow for sin; (4.) By hearkening to the voice of conscience admonishing and checking for sin.

Either of these three kinds of conscience, viz. the blind, presumptuous, and seared conscience, will admit of a kind of peace, or truce rather, for a while, while it sleeps; but what God said of Cain's sin, must be conceived of all sin: If thou dost not well, sin lies at the door, Gen. iv. 7. And upon what terms soever it lies still, and troubles not the conscience for a time, yet it will awake in its time, and then by as much as