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Common practise doth farther teach us, that when we can hear the word without all trembling at God his judgements, when we can pray without all fear before the Majesty of God, when we can come to the Discipline of the Church without ⟨p. 38⟩all reverence of the ordinance of the Lord; all is in vain. Again, let us hear with too much trembling, and we shall learn nothing; let us pray with too servile a fear, and our worshipping of God will be without all comfort and uncheerful. Thus if we neither lessen sin, that is sin indeed; neither make sin of that which is not sin in trueth, it is good to proceed to this threefold examination and to lay the edge of this doctrine more near our affections, because many will be found in this ripeness of knowledge and barrenness of conscience, to speak, dispute and declaim of all these things very skilfully, which flickering in the circumference of the brain, and not sitting at the ground of the heart, do seal up a more just sentence of condemnation against them. To help this evil with, we must meditate deeplier of the Law and of the Gospel, together with the appurtenances of them both, that finding our selves far from Gods blessings promised to the keepers of the law, and seeing our selves near to the curses due to the breakers of the Law, we may raise up some sense of sin in our selves. Yet herein we must not stay our foot, but give a farther stride: for whereas many by a diligent view of the law, have come to the sense of sin in themselves, and saw plainly their own condemnation: ⟨p. 39⟩yet because they laboured not to see their guiltiness acquitted by the remission of sin in Christ, they plunged themselves into a bottomless sea of sorrows. Others having passed these degrees, & hitherto made these steps to avoid the wound of Conscience; have come also too short, and missed of the mark: when because besides the sense of sins pardoned by the death of Christ, they felt not also the virtue of his passion crucifying sin in them, but saw that with the remission of sin was not joined the mortification of sin; they feared that there was no forgiveness for them, but still languishing with sorrow, they thought themselves to stand charged with their former guiltiness.

Common practise doth farther teach vs, that when we can heare the word without all trembling at God his iudgements, when wee can pray without all feare before the Maiestie of God, when wee can come to the Discipline of the Church without