The truly blessed man, or, The way to be happy here, and forever being…

2. That God seeth, observeth, and keepeth a record of all the sins that men thus commit. When it is said that God cannot behold iniquity, it is to be understood of his approbation; but yet, as the Sin ⟨p. 166⟩of the Creature, hath a respect to the special Government of God, so he hath an eye constantly upon it, and maketh his remarks on it, Jer. 17. 1. For, as the Law is the Rule of this Government so the carriages of men with respect to it, are the things according to which the Judgment is to pas• upon men, 2 Cor. 5. 10. We are therefore told that God will bring every work into judgment, Eccles• 12. 14. And in order to this he keeps an exact record of them all, Deut. 32. 34. So that not only do they come within the comprehension of hi• Omniscience, but are the matter of his strict observation, Psal. 11. 4. He looketh into the darkest corners, and taketh notice of what men do in the most secret Chambers of Imagery, and puts all o• the file.

3. That all these sins are also written down in the records of Conscience. We observed this to be one of its Offices, to be a Book of Records, in which there is an exact register of all the man ever did where, though the man hath lost many things, and hath no resentment of them, they are in a readiness to be produced on any occasion: and whensoever God shall lay open these records before the man, he shall have a perfect remembrance of them. Now the Conscience doth this, not by reason of any fidelity in it, for in Sinners it is defiled, and would willingly lose all those records if it could, but God hath put this nature into it, that it cannot do otherwise: we may therefore be sure that there is some design in it, else it would be superfluous,