fore God, from whom nothing is hid, nor can be kept fecret, then no excufes can prevail; to fay, I have married a Wife and cannot come, or I have bought this Farm, or that yoke of Oxen, I pray you have me excufed from this Tryal. No, this fhall not ferve the turn, come, thou fhalt ftand naked before the Judge; then no perswasion can prevail, neither any devices help .us, or blind the Judge. Our first Parents, When God called them to a Tryal for tranf greffing his Commandments, and when they fed from God and hid themselves, (altho' they were still in God's prefence, but foolishly they thought otherwife) how did they answer for themselves, but by excufes? Adam fpeaks for himself, and fays, The woman which thou gavest me, gave me of the Tree, and I did eat. The Woman likewife, fhe thinks to escape by that means; Eve faith, the Serpent beguiled me and I did eat. Likewife when King Saul had disobeyed God's Commandment, turning after the prey; being called to account, he deviseth an excufe, and faith, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord fent me, and have brought Agag the King of Amalek, and have deftroyed the Amalekites: But the people took of the Spoil, Sheep and Oxen, and the chiefeft of the things, which should have been deftroyed, to offer unto the Lord.

Amongst thefe may Pilate be reckon'd, who against his own Confcience condemned Chrift to Death, and yet would excufe himself as though he were innocent in the caufe. When

Pilate Saw that, he took water and washed his bands, faying, I am innocent of the Blood of this just man: All this fhall not ferve the turn, their excufes must not free them, for their Confciences tell them otherwife; no fair tale fhall then be heard, but the plain and naked truth, and our own Confciences fhall teftifie against us; and we fhall not be able to answer one word of a thoufand; we fhall be forced to confefs our mifdeeds, and can keep back nothing, for all must be manifeft: And we fhall not find, as it is in this world, when upon the humble confellion of our fins to God, we may cry for pardon and hope to be forgiven; but then fhall our confeffion be to our open fhame, confufion, and endless destruction: Yea, all the Nations and People of the world that ever have been, fhall be gathered before the prefence of this Judge, and their witness in their bofoms. And the reason why they fhall appear, is, that they fhall be called to an account of their Stewardship; and after tryal of their caufe, he shall separate the one from the other, the juft from the unjuft, the godly from the ungodly, the Sheep from the Goats; for faith St. Matthew, He fhall fend his Angels with a great found of a Trumpet ; and they shall gather together bis Elect from the four winds, and from one end of heaven to the other. Whereby may be perceived, that both the good and the bad fhall be gathered into the prefence of the judge, and then shall just men fhine as the Sun, and fhall be as it were quit by proclamation, Come ye blessed, which

made

made the Apostle St. Paul to break out into these words, Herein is the love of God perfect towards us, that we should have boldness at the day of Judgment: Therefore do the godly make their Prayers in an acceptable time, and wish that this day may come hortly. Come Lord Jefus, come quickly. This is a comfort to the righteous man, when his Confcience fhall be found blameless in this day of Tryal.

Seeing that here is the Evidence, and by the things written in the Book, in our Confciences; we must be arraigned; and feeing in our Books is recorded all that we do, all our words, thoughts, and deeds, and that we must give up our last account to this great Judge, and for every idle word give an account; what account fhall thofe give who have been idle hearers, and idle doers of his Word?

Firft, It must teach us above all things to look to our Books, our Confciences, to keep them very fair and clear, that our Books of account be in a readiness; for our Confciences fhall either excufe or accufe us at that day.

Therefore the greateft burthen a man can bear, is the burthen of fin lying upon his Conscience, and preffing it down without any affurance of pardon, and fo by confequence David accounts that he is bleffed who is eafed of the burthen of his fins, Let them that fear the Lord, and love their own Souls give all diligence to make fure the remiffion of their fins, avoid hardness of Heart, drow finefs of Spirit, and a Confcience which is feared, as with an hot Iron,

which caufeth the fearful Judgment of God, and then at the last receives according to that he hath done in this life, whether it be good or bad. All must appear faith St John, and if all of us, then every part of us both Soals and Bodies, must be prefented at this Tribunal.

This was the care of the bleffed Apostle St. Paul, Acts 24. by reafon we must all come to Judgment, and our Confciences laid open, and we judged according to the things that are therein recorded; this I fay made that holy Servant of God, to take all poffible pains to keep a clear Confcience before God and Man. O that we may imitate this bleffed Apoftle, that fecing we must all come to Judgment, our Books, even our Confciences must be opened and difclofed, that we must receive fentence of Salvation or Damnation, according to the things written in our Books: Oh that we would labour and en

deavour, that no filthy fins might blot our Books but that we keep them fair and clear in the fight of God. It ought to perfwade us, above all things in the world, to look to this, to keep the Book of our Confciences fair: For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and will alfo condemn us. John 1. 3. 20.

Ufe 2. Secondly, Secing that fentence must pals according to the things written in cui Books and thofe are not only the grofs fins of the world themselves, but even the vile and unclean thoughts of our hearts, even the fe must come to Judgment, then let us be careful to avail, not only the outward actions themselves, bat thofe

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thofe unclean thoughts of ours; for they must come to Judgment. Alafs, many think thoughts are free, and they shall never be arraigned for their vile and ungodly thoughts: But St. Paul faith, Thoughts hall either excufe or accuse w Rom. 1. 20. And whofoever truly repents they repent of their vile and ungodly thoughts; for if we had no other fins written in the Book of our Confciences, but our finful thoughts, they were enough to condemn us, both Body and Soul, for evermore.

Neither let us content our felves, to think we are in a good cafe, if we can fay like the proud Pharifee (which juftified himself before God and Man) I am no Drunkard, nor Fornica tor, nor Extortioner, &c. No, let us look to our own Book, that there be not fo much as an idle word written there, that hath not been blotted out with the tears of true Repentance for even they must come to Judgment, as ou Saviour faith, for I Say unto you, that every idle word that Men fhall Speak, they shall give accoun thereof in the day of Judgment. Mat. 12. 36.

And that we may know in particular, wha is written in our Books, St. John faith, Tha we shall all be judged according to our works, Rev 20. 13. So it is, 2 Cor. 5. 10. We must all a pear before the Fudgment Seat of Chrift, that every one may receive the things done in his Bod according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. We fhall be judged, and receive a re ward according to our works. If thy works are good, then life, glory and falvation, but if thy

works