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1. Caution. Have a care ye fell not a good Confe

fell not Gods Caufe, fell not the Caufe and Interests of Religion and Trath, Prev. 13.23 Buy the Truth but fell it not. There be five ways of felling a good Caufe.

First Way of felling a good Caufe, is, by perfidi ous betraying a good Caufe. There are fome who feem to be on the right fide of the house for a time, who are not found or ftable in the Faith, but waver like a wave of the Sea, & may be tempted through the deceitfulness of their own hearts, to disclose the fecrets, to discover the ftrength or weakness, and treacherouflie to work the wrack and we of these who are ingenuous and fledfall for a good Cause, O but fuch deferve to be fligmatized with a brand of infamie, Lam. I. 2. Jer, 9. 2, 3, 4, 5.

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Second Way of felling a good Caufe, is, by perfecuting a good Caufe, there is never a Ge neration but Satan bath fame under his Pay, bath fome Journey-men a work for carrying on this Trade, Eflber 7. 4. We are fold. I, and my People to be deftroyed, &e. O Sirs, are there not fome, who make a Merchandize of the Saints, and reare up eftates upon their ruines, pillaging and perfecut ing them, wherein they think they have not onlie done themselves and their generation good fervice, but even done God good fervice, Joh 16. 2. but they hall not want their reward. To which purpofe have a notable paffage, Ifa. 66. 5. Hear the

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Word of the LORD, the tremble at His Word, your Brethren that hated you, that caft you cut for My Names Sake, faid, let the LORD te glorified: but He shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed. On which place Mr. Pool fpeaks plainlie our mind of it. Says he, your Brethren by pation or by external profeffion of Religion, though falfe Brethren, they hut you out of their focietie, or which is more. probable excommunicat er caft you out of their Sy nagogues, for your owning of Me, and adherence to My Law, thinking thereby they do God good fervice, but there will come a day when God fhall appear, and let them know His judgement concer ning their Violence and Rage, then shall ye have Joy, and they shall be ashamed,

Third Way of felling a good Caufe, is, by Apo fatizing from a good Caule, this looks like a rueing of the bargain that feemed (at least profeffionally) to be made with Chrift, which not unfrequently falleth our, fpeciallie when inconveniencies and perfecuti ons attend Religion; but often it is to be obferved that an affrented God faffereth not fuch to pafs un punished,as in the fearfull inftance of Francis Spira, who being deferted of God, and lafhed with furious horrors of confcience, deeplie and doloronflie res fented bis quitting & denying the Proteftant Faith, as in the famous Story of his Apoftacy may be feen. Fourth Way of felling a good Caufe, is by pres ferring our fecular interefts to the Caufe & Concerns of Chrift; there have been manie/fuch Demafes, who have forfaken Chrift to embrace this prefent World and feek their own things, and not the things of Chrift; Li

Fifth Way of felling a good Caufe, is, by fyding with an ill Caufe, for ordinal lie they who efpouse an ill Caufe, do what they can to overthrow the con trarie Cause, as a fit medium for throughing their pur pole, & Chi itt feems to glance at this when He fays, Matth. 12. 30. He that is not with Me is againft Me, and be that gather:th not with Me, feuttereth abroad,

SECTION IV.

2. Caution. H

[Ave a care ye fell not a good conscience, which fhould be dearer to you than anie outward enjoyment, for if once it be fold and gone, the price of your whole Eftate and Fortune will not buy it back again, and though a man had no more but a good conscience towards God and man, be is richer than man could make him, and as rich as God would have him, for a good confcience cannot mifs of Felicitie, feeing it is our Felicitie, being the beginning of it here, and will furelie iffue in the perfection of it hereafter. There are fix Ways of felling a good Confcience.

First Way of felling a good Confcience, is, by fins ning against the Light of Confcience; Confcience in Man is the Candle of the Lord, and the Lamp of the Soul, to thew him the right way from the wrong, the ftraight from the crooked, and the paths of life from thofe that lead unto death; O how manie are there who choose darkness rather than light, and willfullie put out their own eyes, that they may not fee themfelves marching to their own miferie, the ich to Satan(who is a readie Merchant for fuch bargains)

bargains) is great gain, our loffes being always his Pront, yet fee we not manie walking lightlie under the burden of this piece of guilt of fioning against Light which is a degree of that unpardonable fin against the Holy Ghaft:

Second Way of felling a good Confcience, is, by fmothering and bazeling convictions of confcience; Oman, how manie a conviction has been conceived and quickned in tby confcience at a Sermon, that have the Church for their Church-yard, and fo buried upon the place, their life & death being almost at once. Hath not thy confcience been often cons vinced of the guilt of fuch and fuch a fin, or with the neglect of fuch & fuch a dutie, & yet there hath no reformation followed, either in forfaking fin, or doing darie?

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Third Way of felling a good Confcience, is, by turning from truth to error through the conduct of a mifinformed confcience; the profeflion and patro mage of truth, or the efpoufal and maintenance of error, are furelie matters of conscience, wherein i flands concerned to cognofce & judge, & according to the trueft determination to act and appear, which if it be wrong or in Favours of Tenets contrare to found Doctrine, this is accountable a parting with or felling of a good Confcience, hence it is faid of thofe who concerning the truth had erred, that they had made Shipwrack of Faith & of a good Confcience, Compare 2 Tim. 2, 17, 18, with 1 Tim. 1, 19, 20.

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Fourth Way of felling a good Confcience, is, by committing confcience wafting fins, fuch as Perjury, Sacriledge, Adultery, Blafphemy, Parricide, More

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Oppreffion, repeated relapfes into grofs fins, and o ther the like attrocious crimes, which cauterize the Confcience and debauch it into defperat &upiditie,

Fifth Way of felling a good Confcience, is, by ly ing, equivocating, cheating, gripping, and other kinds of fraudulent dealing betwixt man and man, which are vices too too rife among Merchants, which do mightilie eat the confcience, as the profits gained that way ufe to bribe it into silence.

Sixth Way of felling a good Confcience,is, by the ordinarie ufe of that common Oath, by my Confci ence; upon which I have these two remarks, it seems fuch mens confcience is ill and little worth, they give fo large and lavish a pensiworth, fwearing by their confcience for everie trifle; my other remark is, that they who fwear fo prodigallie by their Faith, & by their Confcience, are readilie the people that have no Faith and no Confcience, for ferious religious perfons, that are concerned to keep Faith & a good Confcience,they prize their precious Faith & a good Confcience at a higher rate, than to make a bachle or by word thereof in fuch a flight manner.

3. Caution.

SECTION V

Ave a care ye fell not the Goods of the Church, and neither be ye buys ers of this kind of merchandize, leaft it prove a moth our eftates, and a fretting canker to your confci O my Friends, beware of Sacriledge it is a 38 crime, which God Himfelf will avenge, Partie injured by this fort of Robberie,

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