them not, they make little or no account of them: but know, they are all written in this book of thy Confcience, thy Confcience marketh them, thy Confcience writeth them down, and if thou wilt not repent of them, and leave them, O woe unto thy Soul, When these Books come to be opened, and read over: For then the Confcience will accufe thee, and lay unto thy charge every one of them in order.

Thou hast fet my misdeeds before me, and my fecret fins in the fight of thy Countenance, faith

David.

Again, in the heart of man, what anger, what envy, what malice lurks therein, and they pafs it over, and think it no matter? Well know, beloved, that unless you repent of the very thoughts of your hearts, even these things wil be found written in the Books at the day of Judgment, and what a lamentable thing will that be?

Secondly, As our Confcience is privy unto all our thoughts, and will accufe us of them at the day of Judgment: So all our fpeeches are noted within. What a number of prophane fpeeches pafs out of the mouth of wicked and ungodly men and women? What horrible and blafphemous Oaths? What curfed fpeaking, lying and endring? Now a wicked Perfon that thus abufeth his tongue fo many feveral times in one day, he cannot for his life remember them. Well, know that every finful word thou fpeakeft, is written in this Bo k there it is recorded; and when this Book of thy Confci

ence

ence shall be opened, it will discover all thy Sins, not only thy filthy Thoughts, bus every wicked Word.

Our Saviour tells us, Mat. 11. 35. that wo must give an account of every idle word at the day of judgment: And tho' Men labour to forget them, and flight them by Pastimes and Compamy, yet they are written in their Consciences; and one Day must come to Judgment. Know this I entreat you, that we must all have a Refurrection, and then give an Account of all out Actions, whether they have been good or bad, the number is here fet down in the word all, as în 2 Cor. 5. 10. all must appear, all must arife and give an Account to this Judge. Nor muft we imagine that we shall be called one by one, like a Jury impanell'd, or like a Company, or Corporation, as first one, and then another, no, it is faid all muit arife together, and give an Account how we have beftow'd our Talents.

If fo, how then should this awaken us all, and caufe us to look unto our Lives, and to. learn to know of what we are made, and to make a Covenant with our Eyes, as Fob did; · and to confefs with him, tho' we be now rich and ftrong, as Job was, that Corruption is our Father, and to the Worm, thou art our Mother and our Sifter, and to fet a Watch before our Mouths, as Devid did; and to lay afide our vain Oaths and idle Mirth, which, as So lomon faith, cannos want Iniquity, feeing all of them must come to Judgment.

Thirdly, if we view the Lives of Men and

Women,

Women, why? (alas) they be nothing almoft but a continual Practice of Sin, and the Sins of Mens Lives be innumerable, even as the Sand on the Sea-fhore. Now tho' Mens Lives abound with fo many thousand Sins, yet we fee that Man perceives not, nor knows one quarter of his Sins, it may be he knoweth fome, but forgetteth the greatest part of them, but yet they be all written in the Book of Confcience, and they fhall all come to Judgment, when these Books thall be made manifeft, tho never fo fecret, for thy Confcience doth mark them all, and pen them down against the Day of Account.

There is no Sin fo fecret that God will not bring to light, yea, all our Sins fhall be difcover'd and laid naked before them, what hath been done in fecret fhall be publish'd on the House-top, and fhall come to light, Eccl. 12. 14.

And there is reafon for it. First, because it fhall make the Sinner the more afham'd and tormented for his Sin, for the more a Man comes to fee the greatnefs of his Sins, the more 'twill vex his Soul, and torment his Heart.. As a Man that is in Debt, the more he thinks of his Debt, the more it troubles him; fo it is with a Sinner, his Sins are Debts fet upon God's Score, and regiftred in his Bocks.

Secondly that the Wicked may not plead Not Guity, God will take away all Colour of Excufe, they shall have no Cloak for their Sin; end if it were not fo, they would be ready to fay, Lord, when faw we thee an hungry, &c. The Lord doth, as every righteous Judge coth, or ought to do

con

convict them before he condemns them.

Now feeing what is meant by thefe Books of our Confcience, and likewife what be written in them,even all our Thoughts, Words and Works, let us come to fee what use we are to make of this Doctrine.

.1

Ufe 1. Hence, first of all we may obferve the endless love and mercy of our God towards us, foretelling every one of us, of the opening of thefe Books, that our Confciences fhall be laid open, thefe Books uncl fped, and that all our Thoughts, Words, and Works must come to Judgment: Surely it is to this end and purpose, that we might prevent the danger that is to come, and labour to keep a good Confcience, washed and purged in the Blood of Chrift, that it may not lay to our charge any one fin, but affure us that we are in the favour of God.

Ufe 2. Secondly, We fee here, that it is not enough for a man or woman to abftain from evil words and works, but evil thoughts likewife; the very lufts of the heart. Paul complains of this, and Peter bids Simon Magus to repent and pray, if perhaps the thoughts of his heart might be pardoned. How ought then every Chriftian man and woman to be wary of their words. yea, of their thoughts, feeing we must give account for all; and our own Confcience which is within us, to bear witness against us; and this we ought to take notice of if the Book of our Com fcience be foul, that we do not fink under the weight of despair; and if we be clear, not to prefume of our felves, as Peter did, but rather

with David, defire the Lord, Not to enter into Fudgment with thy Servant, for in thy fight no man Living fhall be justified. But fay, O Lord, I will not difpute the caufe with thee, for if I propound my Righteoufnefs, thou wilt condemn mine iniquity: we may juftify our felves before our felves, but not before God; and not by pleafing our felves, but difpleafing God, for our Books thall be opened, faith the Text, and that is the Touch-flone, to try. whether we have done good or ill. St. Auguffin confefleth, O faith he, I want mercy, and as a Fugitive I return and feck for peace, and confefs I am not worthy to be called thy Creature, my Confcience tells me fo, which is a witnefs that I daily and, hourly carly about me. And why should we carry this Book within us fome will fay? I anfwer, becaufe God will be juft in all his ways and righteous in all his dealings, and because we are apt to fmother the fins we have committed, when we think we have committed them fecretly, and that no man hath feen us, we will deny and forget them; therefore hath God placed this Book in our Breast, which is our Confcience, which will either excufe or accufe us at that day. I doubt not but the Children of God are careful over their very thoughts and words: For a wicked carnal man may abftain from fome grievous fin, but it is a note of a true Child of God, to repent of his evil thoughts, and be careful over them continually.

Thirdly, Seeing every man's Confcience ishis Book, and every man's fin is penned down

therein