The dejected souls cure tending to support poor drooping sinners. With rules, comforts, and…The dejected soules cure tending to support poor drooping sinners. With rules, comforts, and…

Thirdly, It proceeds from a judicial hardness in the heart, and from a cauterizednesse to searedness in the conscience, Rom. 2. 5. But after thy hard and impenitent heart, ¹treasurest up unto thy self wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgements of God. To let you know that it is from hardness of heart, and searedness of conscience, that a man cannot repent, cannot confess and be troubled for the evils he hath done, and the guilt he lies under; scared flesh is sensible of no touch with a Pin, it is your raw flesh that is sensible; mens consciences are cauterized and scared, that makes that sin is not as a sword in the flesh.

Thirdly, It proceeds from a judicial hardnesse in the heart, and from a cauterizednesse to scarednesse in the conscience, Rom. 2. 5. But after thy hard and impenitent heart, ¹treasurest up unto thy self wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgements of God. To let you know that it is from hardnesse of heart, and scarednesse of conscience, that a man cannot repent, cannot confesse and be troubled for the evils he hath done, and the guilt he lies under; scared flesh is sensible of no touch with a Pin, it is your raw flesh that is sensible; mens consciences are cauterized and scared, that makes that sin is not as a sword in the flesh.

1. 1Rom. 2. 5.

Fourthly, It proceeds from a continued custom in a course of sin; Custom in sin doth harden the heart, and doth fear the conscience; it is in this case as with a man when he first comes to be an Apprentice to an Artificer or Handy-crafts-man; he comes with a tender hand to the work, and when he begins to work with hard Instruments he cannot work but he galls his hand and blisters his hand; but when he hath been many years at work, by continual labour at the work, his hand doth then harden, that so he can use it and never blister his hand. It is just thus with a sinner, before a man be accustomed to an evil way, conscience is tender and full of remorse; I, but a continued custom and making a trade of sin, it doth make the conscience to be hard and brawny, and to feel nothing; as in a Smith's house, a Dog that comes newly in, cannot endure the fiery sparks to fly about his ears; but when the Dog is used to it, he sleeps quietly. Let wicked men be long used to sin, to the Devils work-house, to be slaves and vassals to sin, the sparks of Hell fire may fly about their ears, and this never troubles them; and all this ariseth from a continued custom in a course of evil.