they have been lifted up, the lower readily they are laid, Pfal. li. 8.

Inf. 1. Unjuftified and unfanctified perfons can have no true affurance of the Lord's love to them. They may have a falfe confidence, a delufive hope of heayen; but no affurance, for that is peculiar to the juftified.

2. Doubts and fears are no friends to holiness of heart and life. It is little faith that breeds them in the hearts of the people of God, Matth. xiv. 31. And little faith will always make little holiness.

3. Laftly, Chriftians may thank themfelves for the uncomfortable lives they lead. What fovereignty may do, we know not: but furely it is floth and unbelief that the want of affurance is ordinarily owing to. Stir up yourselves then to feek it. Be frequent in felf-examination, cry to the Lord for the witnefs of his Spirit. Believe the word, and be habitually tender in your walk, if ever ye would have affurance, Pfal. v. ult.

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II. Of Peace of Confcience.

EACE of Confcience is a benefit flowing from juflification.

Here I fhall fhew,

I. What peace of confcience is.

II. The excellency of it.

III. How it is obtained.

IV. How it is maintained.

V. How it is diftinguished from falfe peace.
VI. Lastly, Deduce an inference or two.

I. I am to fhew what peace of confcience is. It is a bleffed inward calmnefs and confolation arifing from the purging of the confcience from guilt before the Lord. In which defcription obferve thefe two things.

1. The fubject of this peace. It is a purged conicience, Heb. ix. 14. Peace and purity go together, and make a good confcience, 1 Tim. i. 5. That peace

which is joined with impurity, in an unpurged conscience, is but carnal fecurity, peace in a dream, which will end in a fearful surprise. Now there are two things neceffary to the purging of confcience.

(1.) Removal of guilt, in pardon thereof, which brings the finner into a state of peace with God, Pfal. XXX11. I. Guilt felt or unfelt, is a band on the foul binding it over to God's wrath; it is a difeafe in the confcience, which will make it a fick confcience at length. But a pardon takes away guilt, loofes the band, removes the deadly force of the difeafe, and lays a foundation for carrying off the fickness, If. xxxiii. ult.

(2.) Removal of the confcience of guilt, in the fense of pardon, Heb. x. 2. Though a malefactor's pardon be paffed the feals, and he is fecured from death, yet till he know it, he cannot have peace. So the pardoned finner, who knows not his mercy, though he has peace with God, yet wants peace of conscience, Pfal. li. 8. So the confcience is purged, when the fting of felt guilt is drawn out of it.

2. The parts of this peace. These are two.

(1.) An inward calm of the foul, and quietnefs of the mind, wherein it is not disturbed with the fears of God's wrath, nor frighted with the judgements which its fins do in themlelves deferve, Prov. i. 33. A troubled confcience is full of fears, of terrible fore-bodings, and fo torments, 1 John iv. 18. When peace enters the confcience, the mift clears up, the fears are scattered, and the confcience has a ferenity and quiet within itself.

(2.) Confolation and comfort of heart, 2 Cor. i. 12. If. lvii. 19. Peace of confcience is not a mere negative, or indisturbance, which floth and negligence of foulmatters may procure to the unpardoned: but it is an active chearfulness of fpirit, in the foul's looking up towards God, and reflecting how matters ftand betixt heaven and it, Col. iii. 15.

Conceive the whole thus. Sin entering into the

foul cafts the confcience into a fever, and guilt makes the rage of it. The great Phyfician gives the proper remedy: and fo the confcience gets a cool, the fickness is removed, and the man gathers health, ftrength, and foundness, Job xxxiii. 22.-26. Heb. ix. 14.

II. I fhall fhew the excellency of it. It is Abraham's bofom on this fide of heaven, the lower paradife; it is like the fhore to the fhipwrecked foul; and life from the dead. I will only fay three things of it.

1. It is the wine-prefs of the grapes of heaven, that fqueezeth out into the man's mouth the fap of the covenant, Pfal. cxix. 102. 103. It was a fad tale of the good Afaph's, Pfal. lxxvii. 3. I remembered God, and was trou bled: I complained, and my Spirit was overwhelmed. Peace of confcience makes a man remember God, and be comforted; to fuck the fap of promises, and all the declarations of God's love and favour in his word, as the fame Afaph did, Pfal. Ixxiii. 24. 25. 26.

2. It is fap and foifon to all earthly comforts, Prov. xv. 15. A fick man can take no pleasure in the comforts of life, as a healthy man does. An uneafy con science fucks the fap out of all. But peace there makes coarse fare, and little of it, very fweet, Prov. xvii. 1. And whatever a man has, it puts an addi

tional sweetness in it.

3. It is fweet fauce to all afflictions, 2 Cor. i. 12. John xvi. 33. When there is no peace within, little thing makes people fretful; even a fcratch of a pin is a wound with a fword. But this makes a man, eafy in the middle of the little annoyances of the world, though they be they be great in themselves, Col. iii. 15. Phil. iv. 7. Compare Heb. x. 34. When a man meets with difquietments and vexations abroad, he is helped to bear all, when he is comforted and cheered coming into his own houfe. But heavy is their cafe, who come from bitternefs abroad, and are met with bitter nels at home. The former is an emblem of peace of confcience, the latter an emblem of the foul in afflic tions.

III. I am to fhew how this peace of confcience is obtained. This peace is peculiar to the faints. Others may have falfe peace, Luke xi. 21. but only they have or can have true peace, Rom. v. 1.

1. It is obtained for them by Jefus Chrift dying and fuffering to procure it, If. liii. 5. Eph. ii. 14. There can be none of this peace without reconciliation with God, and there could be no reconcliation without his blood. The convinced finners could have had no more inward peace than devils have, if Christ had not died to procure it; but their wound had been incu rable, stood open and gaping for ever.

2. It is obtained by them, by these two methods. (1.) By a believing application of the blood of Chriit, Rom. xv. 13. Job xxxiii. 23. &c. This is the only medicine that can draw the thorn of guilt out of the confcience, and heal its wounds, 1 John i. 7. Medicines prepared by men, may cure bodily diftempers, and a vitiated fancy, or difordered imagination, among other things. Confeffing, mourning, reforming, watching, &c. may give a palliative cure even to the confcience, fcurfing over its fores. But nothing but a believing application of Chrift's blood will give true peace of confcience; and do what ye will, if ye do not that, ye will never get true peace, If. vii. 9.

(2.) By God's fpeaking peace thereupon to the foul, If. Ívii. 19. The foul refting on Chrift by faith, brings it into a state of peace with God; but for peace of conscience, more is required, namely, a fenfe of that peace. And this none but God can give, Pfal. li. 8. He speaks peace in the word; but a work of the Spirit on the confcience is neceffary to make the application, as appears from 2 Sam. xii. 13. compared with Pfal. li. And this is a light ftruck up in the foul, discovering the foul to be at peace with God, an overpowering light that filences doubts and fears, and creates a bleffed calm. This alfo is obtained in the way of believing, in the reflex act of faith. VOL. II.

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IV. I fhall fhew how this peace is maintained. The apoftle tells us it was his exercise to maintain it, Acts xxiv. 16. And if we be not exercifed in it, it will foon be loft. Now, it is maintained by,

1. Keeping up a firm and fettled purpose of heart to follow the way of duty, and to ftand aloof from fin, coft what it will, Acts xi. 23. David kept up his peace that way, Pfil. xvii. 3. This is the breaft-plate of righteoufnefs, Eph. vi. 14. the which if it fall by, one may quickly be wounded to the heart. Unfettlednefs of heart, one's being at every turn unresolved what to do, cannot mifs to leave him in the mire.

2. Living a life of dependence on the Lord, for light and life, direction and through bearing, Prov. ii. 6. Gal. ii. 20. And this will keep a man from prefumption, and doing any thing with a doubting confcience, which will foon mar one's peace.

3. Watchfulness against fin, fnares, and tempta tions, 1 Cor. x. 12. One that would maintain his peace, must be upon his guard, otherwise it will foon be difturbed, in this evil world.

4. A ftrict, holy, gofpel walk, in all known du. ties, towards Gcd, and towards man, Gal. vi. 16. He that will adventure to balk any of them, fhall foon lofe it.

5. Lastly, Frequent renewing of our faith and re pentance, for purging away the fins we fall into, i Pet ii. 4.

V. I proceed to fhew how peace of confcience is diftinguished from falfe peace. A godly man may have a falfe peace, Cant. v. 2. Such had David be fore Nathan came to him after his fall. An unrege nerate man can have no peace but what is falfe, l. Ivii. ult.

1. True peace, built on the ground of God's word, is eftablished by the word, however fearching; the o ther is weakened by it. For God's word is a friend to God's peace, but an enemy to delufion, 1 John iii.