injurious, and a persecutor, yea, the very chief of sinners." Our Lord tells his Disciples, that many would think, " whosoever killed them would do God service :" but could this conceit excuse their murder- ous acts ? No. If we act upon wrong principles, our actions must be bad : nor can our error change the quality of our actions : it may indeed extenuate our guilt ; but it can never render that good, which is in its own nature evil.
To speak then immediately to the point — There are two things necessary to constitute a conscience void of offence ; it must have a clear discovery of the rule of duty ; and it must testify upon good grounds, that there is a correspondence between that rule and our actions.
It must have a clear discovery of the rule of duty. The rule of duty is concise and plain : we are to " love God with all our heart and soul and strength, and our neighbour as ourselves : on these two com- mandments hang all the law and the prophets." Now this rule, in theory, is universally acknowledged ; but, through the influence of our carnal interests and passions, we lose sight of it entirely, and imagine ourselves conforming to it, when we are violating it in every point of view. We suppose that the love of this present world will consist with a good con- science, though God himself has told us, that " if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." We think we may indulge pride, envy, selfish- ness, and a thousand other malignant passions, and yet conform to the law of love.
While the eyes of our understanding are thus blinded, we cannot be said to have a conscience void of offence ; because the conscience being unen- lightened with respect to the rule of judging, it cannot possibly give a just verdict on our case. It must be acquainted with the several relations in which we stand to God and man : it must see what is required of us as creatures, as sinners, as redeemed. It must know that God claims our entire dependence, supreme regard, unreserved obedience. It must feel the