Heaven upon earth in the serene tranquillity and calm composure, in the sweet peace…

For the First, viz. That people may suppose that they have the Testimony of a good Conscience without a ground, or on but seeming grounds; which is incident not only to natural men, but even sometimes to Believers themselves in some respect; men may gather a conclusion of peace from unsound grounds, and speak peace to themselves, when God has not spoken peace to them; There is a generation, says Solomon, Prov. 30. v. 12. that are pure in their own eyes, and yet are not washed from their filthiness; a generation that foolishly fancy themselves to be right, when yet they are quite wrong: which we suppose comes to pass ordinarily, in these Four cases, or from these Four grounds. 1. When […] ⟨p. 264⟩have holiness, and do a piece, or part of their duty and work, but go not stitch-through with it, thinking they need not to be so full, so exact, and so precise, as the command calls for (which it may be they secretly judge to be too severe and rig•d) as it was with King Saul, who, when Samuel came to him, after the slaughter of the Amalekites, 1 Sam. 15. goes out to meet him, and says to him, Blessed be thou of the Lord, I have performed the commandment of the Lord; and when Samuel answers him, what means then the bleating of the sheep in min• […], and the •owing of the oxen which I •ear? Saul replies, They have brought them from the Amalekites to be a sacrifice to the Lord; He thought that he had sufficiently kept the commandment of the Lord, though he had preserved an A•ag, and some •ew of the best beasts, especially for such an use: Thus often natural men, if they do (as it were) two parts, or half of their duty, think they have done enough; and that they may have peace o• that ground. 2ly. When persons think that they mean well, and have an honest aim and design; and will (it may be) be ready to disput on that ground, with any that would find fault with them, and confidently assert that they have done well▪ as Saul does with Samuel, in that same Chapter, who says, yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and performed the commandment of the Lord; And that I have reserved these few sheep and oxen, I meant well, it was not from any greed or covetousness but to be a sacrifice for the Lora; what, says Samuel hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? to obey is better then sacrifice, &c.