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made fenfible of the alarm, and is quickened to feel, the finner beftirs himself, and begins to confefs, to call upon God, and to feek with all the heart, or with all the defires of the confcience; and it is to the confcience that the feeking finner's first promife is made; "Your heart fhall live that seek God." It is a promise to the feeking foul, that the living convictions of a foul quickened by the Spirit shall not die away and come to nothing, as the convictions of a natural confcience do; though the poor finner may often fear that this will be his cafe: but the Spirit fays, No, it fhall not be the cafe, "Their heart fhall live that feek God."

Confcience, when awakened and quickened. by the Spirit, calls for our most diligent attention; we should attend to its accufations, to its checks and reproaches, to its troùbles, to its difquietudes, to its complaints, its wants and defires; and carry all thefe to God by prayer, and beg of God to grant us thofe things that confcience craves at our hands; and this is communion with confcience. What is communion, but giving and receiving? receiving the complaints of confcience, and begging fupplies for it? and this is what the Pfalmift means when he fays, "I commune with my own heart; and my spirit made diligent fearch," Pfal. 1xxvii. 6. And this he recommends to us; "Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be

fill." Confcience, however neglected and flighted, will be found in the great day to be the finner's gnawing worm; and his accufations and reproaches will never die. Attend to every charge that confcience can bring against you, and bring them to the light of God's word and Spirit in the miniftry, and liften to all the cravings of confcience, and let the prayer of faith fatisfy all its wants; and this is communion with confcience. When confcience magnifies its office, and does its duty by lafhing, fmiting, and reproaching us for every evil word and evil deed, it is then made meet to receive the promife of life; hence fuch are faid to receive the word in an honest and good heart, Luke viii. 15. And what can be worse, or more dishonest, than a confcience that will fuffer itself to be feared as with a hot iron, till it be paft feeling? and fuffer the ftrong man armed to keep poffeffion of the palace, and confcience hold its peace till the fleepy foul feels no bands even in death, and never does its duty but in hell? then it awakes reproaches, accufes, torments, and begins the work of a never-dying worm, being called upon to do its office by the vindictive wrath of God let into it.

All God's reproofs, when feconded by an awakened and quickened confcience, take us clean off from the fandy foundation, and from all confidence in the flesh; "Rebuke them

fharply," fays Paul," that they may be found in the faith." But, if the word brings no life, reproof wants an edge; yea more, the voice of all the three divine perfons, and their witness or testimony, must be received into the confcience; the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel, Heb. xii. 24, because it speaks pardon, peace, reconciliation and friendship with God, must be received into the conscience, if, as Paul fays, the heart be sprinkled from an evil confcience.

The Holy Spirit's cry of Abba, Father,' and the witness that he bears to our fonfhip, must be attefted with the witnefs of confcience, or elfe there would be not only pro and con, as with faith and unbelief, but also different witnesses and clashings, which would not bring peace but confufion. But the God of peace and good order makes both these unite in one teftimony: "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God," Rom. viii. 16.

Yea, God the father's voice of love, when by circumcifing our heart to love him, then fays, by the fulfilment of his promife, "Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love," Jer. xxxi. 3; even this has its feat and voice in the confcience: "Now the end of the commandment is charity, out of a pure heart, and a good confcience, and of faith unfeigned." Hence it is plain that the blood of sprinkling has a voice in the confcience;

C

the Spirit's cry of

timony or witnefs,

Abba, Father,' and his tefare in the confcience too; and fo is the voice of God the father's love; charity must be held and enjoyed in a pure confcience.

The myftery of the Holy Trinity is the moft fublime mystery in all the Bible, and their threefold witnefs in a believer's confcience is the greatest wonder and the greatest bleffing in all the world, and this must be in the confcience alfo; "Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure confcience," 1 Tim. iii. 9. Nothing under the fun will ever make you fo found, or fettle you on the rock of falvation fo firm, or fix your heart so fast, or make your union with Christ fo clear and fo fatisfactory, as thefe things which I have written to you.

Indeed there is no walking with God without an experience of thefe things, for they that walk with him must walk in peace and equity, Mal. ii. 6. A confcience purged, purified, and infpired by the Holy Spirit, is a firm bafis for an unfhaken confidence; hence the apoftle's good counfel to us all, "Holding faith and a good confcience," 1 Tim. i. 19. Nothing will shake, flagger, move, affright, or unfettle thy confidence like allowed fins, and fresh contracted guilt. He that exercises himfelf diligently to keep his confcience clean and good, is fure to have the joy of his own faith; "Beloved, if our heart

condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God," 1 John iii. 21. Confcience is the principality in which peace fhould rule; and Satan, fin, and guilt, are the only enemies and disturbers of this fway of the Saviour's fceptre, whose kingdom ftands in righteousness, peace, and joy: hence the exhortation, "Let the peace of God rule in your heart, to the which alfo ye are called," Col. iii. 15.

I have fet my son a task that will employ him all the year round, and exercife him to the end of his days; it may grow out of favour and out of practice, but he will never make straight paths for his feet till he takes it up again. And now, my fon, I charge thee to keep this commandment without spot until the appearing of Jefus Chrift, and thou fhalt find this exercise to be its own reward. "For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our confeience, that in fimplicity and godly fincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world," 2 Cor. i. 12. Adieu,

Ever yours in Chrift Jefus the Lord,

W. HUNTINGTON.

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