Slave to be a Slave unto the Devil whom the People of God have in part subdued and overcome and over whom they shall shortly at once perfectly triumph And now having thus by several Arguments prest this great Duty of working out of our own Salvation I should now proceed to some other Things that are necessary to be spoken unto from this Doctrin But because this is a Duty of so vast Importance and of so universal Concernment unto all and the Slothfulness and Backwardness of many so great and if persisted in will be so ruinous and destructive I shall further urge the practice of this Duty upon the Consciences of Sinners by these following Considerations 1. Working for Salvation is delightful Work First This working for Salvation is the most delightful Work and Imployment that a Christian can be engaged in What is it that makes the whole World so busy in the Service of Sin and Satan but only Pleasure which they either find or imagine The Devil baits all his Temptations with this enticing Witchcraft which the World calls Pleasure and this is that makes them so successful But hath the Devil ingrossed all Pleasure unto his Service Can the Ways of God promise no Delight Are they only ruff and rugged Ways David certainly thought otherwise when speaking of the Commandments of God Psalm 19.10 he tell us They were sweeter than the Hony and the Hony-comb He could squeeze Hony out of them it is an Expression that sets forth the exceeding Pleasantness and Delight that is to be found in the ways of Obedience And truly the whole Book of Psalms is abundantly copious in setting forth that Delight that is to be found in the ways of God Ask therefore the Children of God who are the only sufficient Judges in this Matter and they will tell you with one Consent that they know no Delight on Earth comparable to that Delight that is to be found in Obedience Indeed if you are only taken with a soft luxurious washy Pleasure this is not to be found in the ways of Holiness but if a severe Delight can affect you a Delight that shall not effeminate but innoble you if you desire a masculine rational vigorous Pleasure and Delight you need not seek any further for it than in the ways of Obedience Now there are two Things that make this working for Salvation to be so pleasant Two Things make working for Salvation pleasant the suitableness of this Work to the Agent or Worker and the visible Success and Progress of the Work it self And both these make the working out of Salvation exceeding pleasant and delightful to the People of God First 1. Suitableness of the Work to the Agent It is a Work suited to their Natures and that makes it pleasant As Jesus Christ had in a phisical Sense so every true Christian hath in a moral Sense two Natures in one Person There is the divine Nature or the Nature of God and there is the humane corrupt Nature the Nature of sinful Man and each of these have Inclinations suited unto them there is the carnal part and that is too apt to be seduced and drawn away with the Pleasures of Sin that are Objects proportioned to the carnal part But then there is also a divine and if I may so call it a supernatural Nature imprinted by Regeneration that only doth relish heavenly and spiritual Things So that it is not more natural to a godly Man by reason of the Propensions of the old Nature to sin against God than it is natural to him by reason of the Propensions of the new Nature to obey and serve God Now when Nature acts suitably to its own sway and pondus this must needs cause two Things First Facility and Easiness Secondly Delight and Complacency Streams flow from the Fountain with ease because they take but their natural Course So the Works of Obedience flow easily from that Fountain Principle of Grace that is broken up in the Hearts of the Children of God because they flow naturally from them and therefore because Nature makes things easie that easiness will make them pleasant and delightful It is true indeed when they work there is an opposition and reluctancy from their other contrary Nature for as they act suitably to the one so they act quite contrary to the other Nature But doth not the gracious and new Nature as strongly wrestle against and oppose the Workings and Eruptions of the old Nature as the old doth the Workings of the new Yes it doth and therefore you that are truly Regenerate never sin because of the easiness of it because of its suitableness because else you must offer violence to your Nature if you resist a Temptation Do you not offer violence to your Nature if you close with that Temptation You are not all of one piece if I may so speak if you are Regenerate And what must the corrupt part only be indulged and gratified and must the renewed part be always opposed Why should not Grace since it is as much nay more your self than Sin is why should not that have the same scope and liberty to act freely as Sin doth Truly these Things are Riddles to wicked Men and they are unfit Judges in this Case they wonder what we mean when we speak of Easiness and Delight in ways of Obedience which they never found to be otherwise than the most burthensome Thing in the World And truly it is no wonder for they have no Principle suited to these Things they are made up only of the old Nature that is as contrary and repugnant to them as Darkness is to Light But if once God renew and sanctifie them then they will confess as we do that the Works of God have more easiness in them than the generality of the World do imagine and therefore St. Paul tells That he delighted in the Law of God after the inward Man Rom. 7.22 But why after the inward Man But because though his corrupt part was contrary thereunto yet his renewed part which he calls his inward Man was suited to the Duties of the Law of God and carried him out as naturally to Obedience as the Spark flies upward And hence it is that the Children of God delight in the ways of Obedience because they suit with their new Nature that is implanted in them Secondly 2. Progress in working for Salvation makes it pleasant Another Thing that makes working for Salvation so delightful is That visible Success that the Children of God gain and that visible progress that they make in this Work Nothing doth usually cause greater Delight in Work than to see some riddance in it and that we are like at length to bring it to some issue So truly this is that which mightily delights the Children of God to see that their Work goes forward that their Graces thrive that their Corruptions pine and consume away that they are much nearer Salvation
much Work to be done in so little time No far be it from us to say thus Though our Work be great yet our Time is long enough to perform it in if it were well improved We do indeed consume away our precious Days and waste our Life and Light exhaust our Strength and lay out our Endeavours upon Vanities and Trifles on nothing but Emptiness and Folly And that Life which the Prophet tells us is but as a Tale truly we spend it as a Dream We sleep and drowse and suffer our precious Minutes to run and waste away doing nothing to any good purpose till the Night is shutting in till the Night of Darkness come upon us and then the greatness of our Work will confound us and cause Despair rather than excite Endeavours Have you never known any who at the close of their Lives having neglected their great Work have spent that little time that they had then left them in crying out for more time And thus it may be with you also if your Consciences be not awakned sooner than by the Pains and Disquiets of a sick Bed then with Horror you may cry out More Time Lord more Time But it will not then be granted the Term is fixed the last Hour is struck the last Sand is run and as you and your Work shall then be found so you must go together into Eternity This is such a Consideration as must needs prevail with all Men if they would but lay it to Heart My Time is but short and momentany I am but of Yesterday and possibly I may not be to Morrow and God hath suspended Eternity upon the Improvement of this moment a few Hours will determine my everlasting State and Condition according as these few are spent so will my Doom be either for Eternal Happiness or for Eternal Misery And why should my precious Soul be so vile in my own Eyes as to lose it for ever through Sloth and Negligence Why should I hearken to the Allurements of my own Corruptions or to the Enticements and Persuasions of Satans Temptations No stand off for I am working for Eternity an Eternity that is but a few Days hence a boundless a bottomless an endless Eternity into which I know not how soon I may enter and Woe to me yea a thousand Woes to me that ever I was born if my great Work be not done before the Days of Eternity come upon me This is such a Motive as methinks should make every Man that hears it and hath but a sense what Eternity is presently to bestir and rouse up himself and give God and his Soul no rest till his Immortal Soul be secured and well provided for for Eternity To me there is no greater Argument of the Witchcraft and Sorcery that Sin and Satan useth to besot the Reason and Judgment of rational Creatures than to hear of such Truths Truths that are not to be denied or doubted of and yet Men to live at such a rate as they do so vainly so fruitlessly so lazily so securely and presumptuously as if their Eternity were to be expected and enjoyed here or that there was none to come hereafter Secondly The consideration of the shortness of our Life may serve as a great Incouragement to work The consideration of the burthensomness and trouble of working for Salvation may doubtless fright many from engaging therein Oh! it is a Work very painful and laborious and this discourageth them But know O Sinner though it be grievous yet it is but short Work it is to last no longer than our frail short Life doth last And O! how unreasonable is it to complain as most do of our Work being too long and too tedious and of our Lives as being too short and brittle for our Work is to be no longer than our Lives A Child of God doth not at least he should not desire to live longer than his great Work is done And truly when it is finished it is a great piece of Self-denial in him to be content to abide here in this World any longer And in the mean while this may support him that it shall not be long that he shall thus wrestle with Temptations and thus struggle with Corruptions Death will come in to his Help and put an end to his Toil and Labour and though he brings a Dart in one Hand yet he brings a Reward and Wages in the other Hand and this may be his great Encouragement Fourthly My next Argument to press this Duty of working out of our own Salvation shall consist of three or four Gradations And First Consider we are all of us very busy active Creatures 1. We are all busy active Creatures the frame and constitution of our Natures is such as we must be working some Work or other And therefore since we must be working why should we not work the Works of God We do not simply exhort Sinners to work neither indeed need we You have active Faculties and stirring Principles within you that must and will be still in Imployment and when your Hands cease yet then your Hearts and Thoughts are at work Your whole Lives are nothing but Actions yea when your Thoughts themselves are most unbent and most remiss when they are most vanishing and glimmering so that your selves scarce know what they are yet then are they visibly working though you perceive it not Now what is it that God requires of you It is not that you should be more imployed than you are that you should do more than you do for that is impossible because you never are idle doing nothing but it is that what you do should be done in order unto Heaven and Salvation and how reasonable is such a Command as this It is not more Work that God expects from you only other Work your Thoughts need not be more than they are but they must be more Spiritual than they are your Desires no more but only more Gracious your Actions no more but only they must be more Holy than now they are Let but Grace regulate what Nature doth and the Art of working out of your Salvation is attained The Wheels of a Watch move as fast and as quick when it goes false as when it goes true and if the Watch be but at first set right and true the same activity that makes it go false will make the Motions go right and orderly Truly you your selves are like your Watches your Faculties are the Wheels of your Souls and they move and click as fast when they go false as when they go right and if Grace doth but once set them right the same activity of Nature that makes them work falsly and go amiss will also continue their Motion orderly and regular when once they are set right Well then whatever your Trade be whether it be a Trade of Sin or whether it be a Trade of Holiness you must be working at it And let me tell you Religion and Holiness
it are direct and certain and because if you once begin to work you shall most assuredly persevere till you have attained that End even the Salvation of your own Souls And this is one Reason why your Labour shall not be in vain Secondly Your Labour shall not be in vain because this End shall fully answer yea infinitely exceed all that Cost and Pains you are at in procuring it It is not so in the Things of this World As to this that of the Psalmist holds true Psal 39.6 Surely every Man walketh in a vain Shew surely they are disquieted in vain Though they do attain their End and that because that very End that they grasp is it self but Vanity But can any Man account Heaven and Happiness a vain Thing Is it not infinitely worth all yea more than all that thou canst do or suffer for it Certainly when you come to enjoy it you will not think it a hard Bargain that it stood you in so many Duties and Difficulties before you came to the possession of it No if there could be any Sorrow in that state of perfect Joy it would be not that we have done so much but that we have done no more not that we have gone through so much Anguish in Repentance or that we have sustained such great Conflicts in Self-denial and Mortification but that we waded no deeper in our own Tears and deeper in the Blood of our own Lusts that we have not more vexed and crossed our carnal self and taken more Pains in the ways of God could there be any Sorrow in Heaven this would be the cause of it But certainly a great part of our Joy there will be to reflect back upon those Duties and Works of Obedience through which though with much strugling and striving we have attained unto that most blessed State And this is the last Argument or Motive that I shall insist upon Work for your Labour shall not be in vain you shall certainly accomplish your End and this End shall abundantly recompence you for all your Labour and Pains Well then to conclude this Head you have at large seen what can be pleaded on the behalf of Obedience What is it now that you can Object against these Things Are they not true Are they not cogent Your Consciences I know tell you that they are so why then do they not prevail with you Why sit you still holding your Arms in your Bosoms Sirs I have not spoken to you Fables or Mysteries that cannot be understood but the Truth in all plainess and if you will not lay it to Heart believe it there is a Day a coming when you shall too late know that once you had a proffer of Salvation and you might have been happy for working for it But alas this is the desperate Folly of Men they do not prize Salvation while it is attainable they never account their Souls precious till they are lost yea and lost beyond all hope of recovery I cannot tell how these many and weighty Arguments that have been propounded may work with you God and your own Consciences know but this I can tell the Devil can never bring such strong Reasons why you should destroy and damn your selves as have now been laid before you why you should work out your own Salvation And if they do not prevail with you truly there is nothing that you can plead for your selves You cannot plead that you could not do these Things that Objection hath been answered you cannot plead that there would no Profit arise to you if you did them for the Reward hath been abundantly discovered to you if you plead any thing it must be because you will not do them and that is the thing that will condemn you Therefore if these Things do not prevail with you if you still continue obstinate and instead of working the Works of God you work the Works of your Father the Devil God acquits himself your Blood lies not upon him you have been fairly warned and told of it but your own Destruction shall justly lie upon your own Heads And thus having done with the Arguments to press you to this Duty of working out your own Salvation with Fear and Trembling I come now to Answer some Objections And Object 1 First It may possibly enter into the Heart of some desperate Sinner or other to say These indeed are strong Arguments that have been propounded for the inforceing this Duty of working out our Salvation upon those that expect Salvation but for my part I pretend not so high let me but now enjoy the Sins that I serve and the Pleasures that I pursue and for the state of my Soul hereafter I shall commend it to the Mercy of God had I true Grace I might be persuaded to attempt this hard Work with hopes of some good success but I own my self to be a Sinner and you tell me I cannot change my own Heart and without this change no Salvation can be expected why then should I disquiet my self in vain by labouring for that which I cannot accomplish If I must perish I will perish with as much Ease and Pleasure as I may if I must go to Hell I may be as soon carried down thither in a Flood of Tears as with a Flood of Sins if God hath sentenced me to Hell hereafter why should I sentence my self to a Hell here And therefore if Salvation and Happiness be such Points I will give them over and embrace more easie and obvious Pleasures I know there is no pious Heart but shivereth with Horror at such Language as this is though it be but presented to them and may and do think it rather the Speech of Devils than Men that are in a way of Salvation It is true it is the Speech of Devils but it is the Speech of Devils in Mens Hearts But what now Shall we leave these Men to such desperate Resolutions as these are Shall we suffer them thus to go down flaming to Hell Certainly Religion hath reason enough in it to convince such as these if they will but shew themselves to be rational Men. For Answ Consider thou who hadst rather perish than make thy Life a Trouble to thee by Obedience God under thy Disobedience may make thy Life a Trouble yea a Hell to thee by his Terrors Thou thinkest the filthy Garments of thy Sin and Pollution sit more easie and loose about thee than the close Garments of Holiness and Obedience will do nay but God can wrap and roll these filthy Garments of thine in Brimstone and set them on Fire about thine Ears Many Mens Consciences indeed are like Iron that hath lain for some time out of the Fire that you would not suspect to be hot till you let some Water fall upon it and then it appears to be so by its noise and hissing So truly their Consciences seem cold and dead and such as you might handle at your pleasure but when
the sense of divine Comfort As it is in clear Water when it is still and transparent the Sun shines to the very bottom but if you stir the Mud presently it grows so thick that no Light can pierce into it So is it with the Children of God though their apprehensions of God's Love be as clear and transparent sometimes as the very Air that the Angels and glorified Saints breath in in Heaven yet if once the muddy Humor of Melancholy stirs they become dark so that no Light or Ray of Comfort can break in to the deserted Soul And then sometimes the Devil causeth these Tragedies by his Temptations that so if it were possible he might drive them to Dispair he hated their Graces he envies their Comforts and therefore he would persuade them that all their former Joys were but Delusions proud Dreams and presumptuous Fansies and that they are still in the Gall of Bitterness and in the Bond of Iniquity and by such Suggestions as these are when he cannot hinder the Work of Grace he strives what he can to hinder the Sense of Comfort When therefore those that have once rejoyced under the comfortable Persuasions of God's Love to them the Holy Ghost witnessing himself to them to be a Spirit of Adoption by being in them a Spirit of Sanctification if they now find themselves under the Bondage of legal Fears and Terrors and slavish Dejections looking upon themselves as under the revenging Wrath of God and as Persons devoted to Destruction let them know such Fears proceed not from the Convictions of the Spirit of God who hath been a Spirit of Adoption but it proceeds from the Delusions of Satan for those that once receive the Spirit of Adoption never receive the Spirit of Bondage again to fear that is to fear with a slavish tormenting Fear Sixthly 6. We ought to fear God tho' we know him to be our God A reverential filial Fear of God may and ought to possess our Souls while the Spirit of God who is a Spirit of Adoption is by the clearest Evidences actually witnessing our Son-ship to us Let Men boast what they will of their high Gospel-attainments yet certainly they have not the genuine Disposition of God's Children whose Love to him is not mingled with Fear and whose Fear of him is not encreased by their Love Love it is the Gage and Measure of all our Affections and according to the proportion of our Love to God such will be our Fear that is the more we love God the more we shall fear his Displeasure and the Loss of his Favour It is in vain for us to pretend love to God as our Father unless we fear him also as our Lord and Master Christ who was his only begotten Son and certainly had much more clear assurance of the love and favour of God than any adopted Sons can possibly have yet the Scripture ascribes an holy awful reverential Fear of God even unto him Heb. 5.7 When he offered up Prayers with strong Cries and Tears and was heard in that he feared it may be render'd he was heard because of his godly Fear So in Isa 11.2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the Spirit of Knowledge and of the Fear of the Lord speaking of Christ If therefore he feared God who was himself to be feared as God equal to him and his eternal Son how much more ought we to fear the great God who are as it were but Up-starts in the Family of Heaven we wretched and forlorn Out-casts that were but lately raked out of the Dunghil and by meer Pity taken up into the Bosom of God and nurtured as his Children And thus you see the Fear of God is not in the least contrary to the free Spirit of Adoption Fourthly 4. A Fear of God is no Impediment to a holy Rejoycing in God An awful Fear of God is no Impediment to a holy Rejoycing Indeed slavish Fear damps all true Joy Those that Fear and expect the Revengings of God cannot have any true Joy they may have a kind of mad Jollity that spends it self in Noise and Tumults that may roar out Songs of Mirth only to drown the loud Roarings of their own Consciences Such as these are like your new Liquor that works over into Foam and Froth when the bottom is thick and troubl'd So in this false Joy the Countenance runs over with Laughter when yet the Heart is brim full of the Wrath of God of such the wise Man speaks Prov. 14.13 Prov. 14.13 Even in Laughter the Heart is sorrowful But now a filial fear of God puts no check at all upon our holy Rejoycing in him spiritual Joy is not of that flashy Nature but it is a sober and a severe Grace it is Joy mixed with Fear and because of the mixture of these two together the fear of God with joy in the Lord therefore we find these two are promiscuously ascribed each to other so in Isa 60.5 Their Hearts shall fear and be enlarged You know it is the property of Joy to extend and enlarge the Heart Fear contracts and draws it together but here Fear is said to dilate the Heart to denote to us that a Christians Fear is always conjoyned and mingled together with his Joy And so on the other Hand it is said Psal 2.11 Psal 2.11 Serve the Lord with Fear and rejoyce with Trembling Fear with Trembling is more proper and natural but because of the mixture of these two Graces in the Heart of a Christian therefore the Holy Ghost thus expresseth it Rejoyce with Trembling for great Joys as well as great Fears cause a kind of trembling and fluttering in the Heart As it was with the two Women whom the Angels assured of Christ's Resurrection Mat. 28.8 Mat. 28.8 They departed from the Sepulchre with Fear and great Joy So is it with those Christians who by the Eye of Faith looking upon the Death and into the Sepulchre of Jesus Christ are assured that he is risen for their Justification cannot but have their Hearts filled with a quaking and a fearful Joy Even a Christians strong Praises are breathed out with a shaking and a trembling Voice so that godly Fear is no Impediment to a holy and a severe Rejoycing in God as our Saviour Fifthly 5. Godly fear lays no check on our freedom and boldness with God Godly Fear lays no check upon our holy freedom and boldness with God God hath established a Throne of Grace whereon he sets and unto which he invites his People to approach with a becoming Confidence Heb. 4.16 Let us come boldly to the Throne of Grace As that Emperor counted his Clemency disparaged when any delivered a Petition to him with a shaking Hand as though he doubted of his Favour so God loves when we make our Addresses to him that we should do it with full assurance of Faith nothing doubting of acceptance with him and of an Answer
as their more foul Sins are done away by particular Acts of Repentance so these are done away by a general state of Repentance which state the Children of God are always in and there is also a constant out-flowing of the Blood of Christ and of the Mercy of God upon the Soul to remove the Guilt and Filth of those Sins as we fall into them Then is the Conscience clear when all former Sins being pardoned to us we daily labour to please God though it be with manifold Imperfections and Weaknesses this doth not hinder but that our Consciences may be both pure and peaceable while we thus sincerely strive to keep our selves from all wilful and from all presumptuous Sins our Consciences are clear notwithstanding the Sins of daily Infirmity So says the Psalmist Psal 19.13 Keep back thy Servant from presumptuous Sins Psal 19.13 then shall I be upright and I shall be innocent from the great Transgression That 's the first thing Conscience is clear when it 's free from all known and wilful Sins 2. Then a Man hath a clear Conscience when it is not justly burdned with the Guilt of Sin I say not justly burdned 2. When it is not justly burdened with the guilt of Sin because sometimes we may burden our selves without cause when God hath already forgiven us Many times through Temptations and Desertions God's Children reflect back upon their old Sins with new Troubles and rip up their old Wounds and make them bleed afresh they remember against themselves what God hath forgotten and with great Terrors accuse and condemn themselves for what God hath already remitted to them Now here I shall lay down two Things First That every quiet Conscience is not a clear Conscience Secondly That every troubled Conscience is not an evil Conscience First 1. Every quiet Conscience is not a clear Conscience Every quiet Conscience is not a clear Conscience Some are lull'd asleep in security and their Consciences are quiet meerly because they are insensible it may be they have so harrassed and wasted their Consciences by dreadful Sins so often mortally wounded them that now they have not Strength enough to become quarrelsome and troublesome and this they call Peace indeed it is such a Peace as Galgathus reproaches the Romans with in Tacitus when they had laid all wast then they called it Peace So these Sinners think they have good peaceable Consciences because they do not menace torment and worry them and alas how can they their Consciences are murdered there is no Sense nor Life left in them This is no Peace but a meer Solitude and Desolation of Conscience and yet believe it too these quiet and peaceable Consciences will not be long so at the Hour of Death or if not then the next moment after Death these peaceable Consciences will be startled out of their Sleep and with fearful Screeches fly in their Faces and roar so loud that Heaven and Hell shall hear them As in still Weather many times Matter is gathering for a Storm so while Conscience seems so still and quiet it is only gathering Matter for a Tempest that will one Day pour upon your Heads and O! how grievous will it be when those Consciences that never gave them an ill Word before shall on a sudden drag them before the Tribunal of God and there bitterly accuse them of those horrid Sins that once they seem'd to take no notice of and call for the severest execution of divine Wrath and Vengeance upon them And possibly many that speak of the Peace of their Consciences do not find it so neither they are as far from a peaceable Conscience as they are from a raving and a raging Conscience A raving Conscience soon discovers it self in hellish Despair but there are many whose Consciences do not rave and yet are never quiet they give them many a secret twitch and guird at the very Heart not outwardly discernible by others as Thunder rumbles long in the Entrails of a Cloud that never breaks forth into dreadful and terrible Cracks so a Man may have a rumbling and a grumbling Conscience a Conscience that may murmur and scole upon him and yet he may carry it as if all were calm and serene with him However tho all within may be quiet yet a quiet Conscience may be a polluted Conscience as a standing Puddle may be as foul as the raging Sea when it casts out its Mire and Filth 2. Every troubled Conscience is not an evil Conscience Secondly As every quiet Conscience is not a clear Conscience so every troubled Conscience is not an evil Conscience Hypocrites and wicked Men may indeed and do often so judge Would God ever suffer such strange Terrors to seize upon Men were they not notorious Sinners As those Barbarians at Malta spoken of in the Acts when they saw the Viper fasten upon the Apostle's Hand presently they concluded that he was some wicked Person whom divine Vengeance would not suffer to live So these Men when they see the Worm of Conscience fasten upon others presently they judge them guilty of notorious Crimes such Crimes for which the Vengeance and Wrath of God pursues them but this is a wrong Censure and most unjust For the most part it is seen that those that have the best Consciences are most troubled at least for a time until the Holy Ghost persuade them of the Love of God and of the Pardon of their Sins It is the greatest Fault of a tender Conscience that it mis-interpretes every thing against it self and oftentimes when God rejoyceth over it it apprehends he frowns upon it mistaking the firing of a Burn-fire for the firing of a Beacon and give an Alarm when they should proclaim Peace and Joy many times it is so with them that have tender Consciences a Man may be long troubled for those Sins that are already pardoned to him Nathan comes to David and tells him upon his Confession that he had sinned 2 Sam. 12.13 I have sinned 2 Sam. 12.13 says he and God by Nathan tells him that he had put away his Sin from him and yet his Conscience though it were clear in respect of any Guilt that God charged upon him yet it was not clear in respect of what he himself charged upon himself he thought himself guilty in his own apprehension as you may perceive by his penning of the 51st Psalm yet he was not guilty in God's Account for he assures him by his Prophet that he had pardoned him Question Why now it being so that both a quiet Conscience may be impure and that a troubled Conscience may be a clear Consciene how shall we know whether when our Consciences are troubled it be from the Guilt of Sin remaining upon them or whether when they be clear and quiet it be from the removal of that Guilt How a Man may know when his Conscience is troubled from the guilt of Sin remaining upon it or not
For answer unto this first it may be known when a Man's Conscience is troubled from the guilt of Sin remaining upon it by considering the effects of this Trouble Doth he find that when Conscience is disquieted he is apt to shift off the Trouble by diverting it and doing what he can to lull Conscience asleep Doth he neglect Prayer Reading of the Word and other Duties and Means that God hath appointed to bring him to a true Repentance for his Sin if it be so this Man hath great cause to fear that the trouble of his Conscience proceeds from the Impurity and Defilement of it Where God will save the Soul this trouble of Conscience works in another manner and stirs up a Man to Pray to Hear to Meditate upon God's Word where his condition will be stated to his Hand to follow God in all his Ways and Ordinances making him restless till he come to know that his Sins are pardoned and his Wounds healed and closed up by the Blood of Jesus Christ Now many there are in whom the troubles of Conscience never produce any good effects but all their care is low they may divert all troublesome and disquieting Thoughts from themselves and so they wear off Convictions Now this Trouble can never produce any saving effect and is it self produced meerly from that corroding and gnawing Guilt that lies upon Conscience which a true and genuine Trouble is a means by God appointed to remove Secondly How a Man may know when his Conscience is quiet whether it be because guilt of Sin is removed or not How may a Man know when Conscience is quiet whether it be quieted upon God's Grounds because the Guilt of Sin is removed from it To this I answer it must be considered whether quietness of Conscience comes after Trouble and if Conscience be quiet after Trouble then you must consider how it came to be quieted Did you wear it away with other Businesses Or did you seek to God by Prayer and applying of the Promises to your selves Did you in the way of God obtain Peace Why now if a Man's quietness that he hath be got after Trouble and if got in God's way that way that he hath appointed to still and to quiet the Conscience you may then satisfie your self in it But when as you never have been troubled or having been troubled have worn it off you may be assured such a Peace of Conscience is far worse and more dangerous than the most horrid Troubles and Disquietments of Conscience that can be I come now to the third general Head propounded and that was to shew you What great Importance and of what beneficial Consequence it is to keep our Consciences clear and inoffensive And in speaking unto this I shall at once both give you the Reasons of the Point The Excellency of a clear Conscience opened in six Particulars Why it should be our continual Endeavour to keep clear Consciences and also give you Motives to persuade you to the Duty I shall only name Six 1. It is a most comfortable Relief under false Reproaches First A clear Conscience is the most comfortable Relief under false Reproaches and Aspersions that are cast upon us A good Conscience is only in our own Power but a good Name is in the Power of every slanderous Tongue to blast and indeed it is a thing almost impossible to keep at once both a good Conscience and a good Name too The World is shattered and fractured into so many Parties and each of them of such different Relishes of good and bad that unless our Actions have as universal a Gust as according to the Rabbin's Tradition the Israelite's Manna had that it had the taste of that which they best fansied unless our Actions have such a universal Gust we must of necessity fall under Mis-constructions Censures and Defamations for indeed if you observe it usually our Similitude to others makes them think and speak well of us Whosoever commends another commends somewhat that he supposeth at least he hath in himself and this is the reason of that Woe of our Saviour Luke 6.26 Luke 6.26 Woe to you when all Men shall speak well of you When wicked Men speak well of us it is a Sign we are but too too like them Even a Heathen could say when he was highly applauded by the vulgar Rout What Evil have I done that these Men praise me The very reproaches of ungodly Men are the best Testimonials that can be given of an excellent and singular Christian In a strict and holy Conversation there is that contradiction to loose Prophaneness of the World as at once both convinceth and offends them reproves them and galls them and if we thus reproach them by our Lives we must again expect that they will reproach us by their Lyings and Slanders It is a sinful tenderness of our esteem among Men when we tack about with every popular Breath that blows such must needs prefer the Praise of Men before the Praise of God and let me tell you this is as fruitless as it is sinful since as the Wind always blows from contrary Points and Quarters so while some extol us others will as much vilify and scorn us It is miserable to live upon the Reports and Opinions of others let us not reckon what they say but what Reports our own Consciences make us it is far better to offend the whole World than God and Conscience And if any storm of Obloquy Reproach Railing or bitter Cursing at any time patters upon us how sweet then is it to retire inward to the calm Innocency of our own Hearts where are a thousand Witnesses within us that tell us we have not deserved them How comfortable is it to remit our Cause to God and leave our Vindication to him for whose sake we suffer Reproach Thus we find the Prophet Jeremy appealing unto God Jer. 20.10 12. Jer. 20.10 12. I heard the defaming of many report say they and we will report it that is let us raise a disgraceful and a reproachful Report of him But says he O Lord of Host thou that triest the Righteous thou that seest the Reins and the Heart unto thee have I opened my Cause Why thus if while wicked Men are maliciously conspiring how to blot sully and stain our Names if all this while we can keep our Consciences clear what need we much care how the Wind blows abroad since we are harboured under the retreat of a peaceful Conscience They may possibly persuade others to believe their Calumnies but God who searcheth the Heart and Conscience knows that we are injured and he is hastning forward a Day wherein he will clear up our Righteousness and then the Testimony of one good Conscience will put ten thousand Slanderers to silence 2. It gives a Man advantage to reprove others with Authority Secondly A clear Conscience as it will enable a Man to bear Reproaches from others