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
shall in Heaven become the Measure of our Reward and Happiness but in the very keeping of them while we are observing and obeying there is so great a Reward that we should have no cause to complain should God bestow no more upon us than to suffer us to obey his Law For 1. By working for Salvation we enjoy Communion with God First Herein we uphold Communion with God and Christ through the holy Spirit What is Communion but only a mutual Intercourse of Grace and Duty when Grace received reflects back again in the returns of Duty Then is Communion maintained between God and the Soul when we return Duty for Grace Now is this nothing to enjoy Fellowship and Communion with the great God of Heaven and Earth to be admitted to him to walk and converse familiarly with him and to enjoy him to see him who is invisible to lean upon him who is Almighty to enjoy him who is infinite Is all this nothing Will not the Souls of those who have by Experience tasted the sweetness of these Things cry out They are so excellent and transcendent that there is but one Thing more desirable and that is immediate Enjoyment What is Heaven it self but Communion with God at a nearer Hand Here it is by Faith there by Vision here by Ordinances there by immediate Influences here it is by Duty there by Union And therefore if the Consideration of a future Heaven be not cogent and prevailing with you behold here is a Heaven at present here is Happiness for your Work as well as for your Reward It was nobly spoken of Galleacius Carriciolus Cursed says he be that Man who preferreth the whole World before one hours Communion with Jesus Christ And certainly they who have once tasted the sweetness of this Communion will subscribe to that Anathema Secondly 2. Peace of Conscience an effect of working for Salvation There is usually great Peace and Tranquility of Conscience attends and accompanies this working for Salvation that fills the Soul with as great a Calm as the World had the first Morning of its Creation when there was no Wind or Tempest to discompose it Never is the Soul more at rest than when it is most at work I dare appeal to the Experience of the People of God in this Case Doth not your most solemn Feasts come in by your Obedience Doth ever Conscience look so friendly and pleasantly upon you as when it finds you active in the Ways of God It then wears not a Wrinckle or Frown upon its Face as Sin ruffles it so Duty smooths it out again and this causeth such Peace and Quietness in the inward Man as yields more satisfaction than all the noise and ruffling Gallantry and Jollity in the World can This is our rejoycing the Testimony of our Consciences that in simplicity and godly Sincerity we have had our Conversation in the World So that if Men care not for the Enjoyment of God yet if they love the Enjoyment of themselves if they would avoid Discords and Civil Wars in their own Breasts this were enough to excite them to this pacifying Work that attones and reconciles Conscience unto themselves 3. In working for Salvation God gives in many Testimonies of his Favor Thirdly In this working for Salvation God gives in many evident Testimonies of his special favour and acceptation unto the Souls of his Servants Thou meetest him says the Prophet that rejoyceth and worketh Righteousness Thou meetest him how not to contend with him as with Jacob not to slay him as thou didst Balaam but to embrace him to reveal and manifest thy self unto him If you have any comfortable Evidences that God is yours in a strict Bond of an everlasting and unalterable Covenant and that you are accepted of him in the well-beloved Examine how you attained to this Evidence Was it not through Obedience and Working This is the way whereby God manifests himself unto the Souls of his and should your comfortable Persuasions not come in thus by Obedience and Working They are but Enthusiastical and groundless Presumptions and not true and divine Assurance The Apostle in Pet. 2. exhorts us To make our Calling and Election sure But how is that to be done Why it is by giving diligence What is it Men desire and wish for next to Heaven Is it not Assurance of it Would you not have the Terrors and Torments of Conscience apprehending and pre-occupating your own Condemnation eased and removed Would you not have the unquiet tossings and fluctuations of your Minds because of the uncertainty of your future State and Condition setled and confirmed Why then be persuaded to Work believe it this Evidence is never received in any other way than in a way of Duty God will not hold his Light of Assurance to them who will not work the Works of Obedience 4. Obedience accompanied with Joy Fourthly Those that are diligent in working for Salvation many times have high Spring-tides of Joy Joy that is unspeakable and glorious that rusheth in upon the Soul and ravisheth it with a sweet and potent Delight while it is in ways of Obedience Now this tho' it be not ordinary with every Christian yet God sometimes vouchsafes it especially to the most laborious working Christians as a Cordial to revive and quicken them that they should not faint and grow weary in their Work He gives them many times such prelibations of future Glory such bright Glimpses of himself passing before them that they scarce know wherein their state differs from the state of the Glorified unless it be that it is shorter in the duration lasting not so long as theirs Well then should you be asked as they were in the Parable Why stand you here idle all the day long You could not return the same Answer as they did because no Man hath hired us for God hath hired you and that at no less a rate than all these great and glorious Things that have been propounded to you do amount unto A glorious Heaven a blessed Work that is accompanied with Communion with God Peace of Conscience Assurance of divine Favour and Joy in the Holy Ghost and if all this will not persuade you certainly you set a mighty price upon your own Sloth only let me say this beware that these Souls of yours that you will not part with to God for Salvation beware you do not sell them to the Devil for nothing Thirdly 3. There is an eternal Rest after working Consider your Incouragements after your Work is done there is an eternal Rest that waits you I have already consider'd Heaven as a Reward for working let us now consider it as a Rest after working And so the Apostle tells us there remains a Rest for the People of God And in Rev. 14. Heb. 4.9 we read Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit for they rest from their Labours and their Works do
but the Simple pass on and are punished They are rash and confident in their Undertakings and so they pass on and are punished Fear makes a Christian circumspect and considerative with himself how he may keep from Miscarriages in the performance of his great Work If God call me to such a Duty how shall I perform it If to bear such a Cross and Affliction how shall I glorifie him under it If to conflict with such Temptations how shall I resist and overcome them Yea how shall I do to break through all Difficulties Duties and Oppositions that I who am but a weak and feeble Christian may meet withal and how shall I do to bear up And thus pondring what may be his Duty and forecasting what Duties God may call him unto he is inabled to do what is his Duty at present and what also may by Providence hereafter become his Duty Nothing overtakes such a Man unexpected nor doth any thing surprize him unprovided for it And thus a careful Fear enables him in the performance of his great Work Secondly A Fear of Humility and holy Reverence of God induceth much to the working out of our Salvation and that in three Particulars First It much helps us in our great Work to fear God as our Lord and Master that sees and overlooks all our Works observing both what we do and how we do it also That Servant must be desperately bold that will dare to be idle or slight and perfunctory in his Work while his Masters Eye is upon him Why Christians should consider Gods Eye is always upon them in Praying in Hearing and in every Duty that they perform yea in every Action of their whole Lives And if the Eye of a Master that is but a Fellow Creature nay but a Fellow Servant can have such awe and influence upon his Servant as to make him careful how he works and what he works and to make him diligent in his Work Should not much more the consideration of Gods Eye being upon us who stands at an infinitee distance from us cause a holy Fear and Diligence in us in doing what our Lord and Master commands us Secondly Fear God also as him from whom you have all your Power and Ability to work Fear him lest at any time through any neglect or miscarriage of yours he should be provoked to suspend his Influence and withdraw his Grace from you and to leave you to your own Weakness and Impotency upon whose influence all your Obedience doth depend This is the Apostles Argument in the Text Work with Fear for God works in you both to Will and to Do. Holy diligence in Obedience cannot be more strongly enforced on an ingenious Spirit than by considering all that Strength and Ability that we have to work is received from God and therefore should be improved for God lest for our Sloth he deprives us of that we make no use of Thirdly In working fear God also as he that will be the Judge and Rewarder of your Works for ever You perform them unto him who is to pass Sentence upon them and upon you for them and will you then dare to do them slothfully and negligently God will try every Mans Work with Fire and will call every Action to a severe and strict account every Mans Work shall be seen through and through and then it shall be known who hath wrought the Works of God and who hath fulfilled the Will of Satan and the final Doom and irreversible Sentence shall then be pronounced according to Mens Works God will Rom. 2.7 8 9. says the Apostle render unto every Man according to his Works to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for Glory and Immortality to them he will render Eternal Life but to them that are contentious and obey not the Truth but obey Vnrighteousness he will render unto them Indignation and Wrath Tribulation and Anguish upon every Soul that doth Evil. Now would you but thus fear God as an upright and impartial Judge that will render unto every one according to his Works How would this prevail with you so to work that at last you might be found of God in well doing and receive the blessed Reward and Sentence of the diligent and faithful Servant To enter into your Master's joy Fourthly and Lastly If you would work for Salvation successfully then work speedily without delay and constantly without cessation First Work speedily without delay Delays in all Affairs are dangerous but in Soul Affairs usually they are damnable For First The longer you procrastinate and delay the greater and more difficult will your Work be at last Corruption will be grown more tuff ill Humours will be grown more stubborn your Heart will be more hardned your Affections being more habituated will be more firmly engag'd to Sin the Devil will plead right to you by Prescription and it is hard keeping an Enemy out that hath had long Possession Secondly Consider what a desperate Folly it is to put off your Work till to Morrow you are not sure that you shall live to see another Day And oh what Hazards do those Men run whose hopes of Heaven depend upon no better a bottom than their hopes of Life and whose eternal Salvation is subject to as many Casualties and Accidents as their present Beings in this World are subject to Mans Breath is in his Nostrils and yet how do Men suffer their Souls and their everlasting Happiness to depend upon nothing surer than their Breath that Breath that every moment goes forth from them and they know not whether ever it shall return to them again But suppose your Life and Days should continue and you should reach unto that time whereof you have boasted and promised to mind the concernments of your Souls eternal Happiness in yet consider Thirdly The Grace of God is not at your disposal for then either First The outward Call may cease or it may grow more faint and low you may not be so daily importun'd and solicited for Heaven as now you are Ordinances and Opportunities may cease or you for your contempt may be given over to a contempt and neglect of them Secondly The inward Dictates of your own Consciences and the motions of the holy Spirit may cease Conscience may be brib'd to a silence and the holy Ghost may be commissionated to depart after this present opportunity and never more may you have its Breathings and Movings upon your Hearts if you do not now listen to them Thirdly If inward Motions do continue are you sure after this moments refusal that you shall obtain that Grace from God that may make you willing to close with those Motions Leave not therefore the eternal Salvation of your precious and immortal Souls at such Hazards and Delays Now is the acceptable time now is the day of Salvation to day therefore if you will hear his voice even while it is called to day harden not your Hearts for this
as sure to the one and Salvation as certain to the other as if they were already in their final Estate So then we have a Kingdom that is God who cannot lie hath promised it and his Promise is as much as actual Possession it self The Saints Kingdom is immoveable It follows in the Text this Kingdom is described to us in the Text to be immoveable we have a Kingdom that cannot be moved it is not like the Kingdoms of the Earth that are all subject to Earthquakes and Commotions but we have a Kingdom that cannot be moved And if we understand this of the Kingdom of Grace in the Hearts of Believers then the sense is it can never be so moved as to be utterly removed though it be shaken and battered yet the Foundation of God standeth sure having this Seal on it the Lord knoweth who are his as the Apostle speaks 2 Tim. 2.19 2 Tim. 2.19 Indeed as all Earthquakes are caused by some Vapours included in the Bowels of the Earth so is there enough in us to cause Shakings and Earthquakes there are those corrupt and sinful steems of Lusts that are still working and heaving in our Breasts that were not Gods Truth Wisdom and Power all engaged to keep and preserve us we should be soon moved from our Standing and overthrown If we understand by it the Kingdom of Glory that is certainly immoveable we have a Kingdom that cannot be moved there we shall be free from the Temptations of Satan from the Infirmities and Corruptions of the Flesh from the mutability and fickleness of our own Wills and have a blessed necessity imposed upon us to be for ever holy and to be for ever happy So much for the Thesis We have a Kingdom that cannot be moved Secondly From the Thesis the Apostle proceeds to draw a practical Inference wherein we may observe both what he exhorts us unto and how we ought to do it The Matter of the Duty to which he exhorts us is Let us have Grace whereby we may serve God The manner how we ought to serve God is set down in one word and that is acceptably Let us serve God acceptably which that we may do he directs us to the means and that is in all our serving of God let us address our selves to him with reverence and godly fear let us serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear I shall only as I pass along take a taste of this part of the Text before I fix upon what I principally intend The Word here translated reverence signifies shame-facedness or bashfulness such as is commendable in Inferiours while they are in the presence of their Superiours and it implies in it two Things First Consciousness of our own Vileness and Vnworthiness And then it implies Secondly An over-awing sense of anothers excellency For Modesty or Reverence consists in these two things in low and debasing Thoughts of our selves and in a high Esteem of others Why now this the Apostle exhorts us to in the Text by the word Reverence whence observe this That a due sense of our own vileness and of Gods glorious Majesty is an excellent qualification in all our Services to make them acceptable Let us serve God acceptably with Reverence and godly Fear Thirdly You have in the Text the Motive whereby the Apostle inforceth this Exhortation For our God is a consuming Fire These Words are cited out of Deut. 4.19 where Moses to bring the Israelites from Idolatry represents God to them as a jealous God and a consuming Fire And here the Apostle makes use of them to compose Men into a holy Awe and Reverence of God in serving of him Whence observe First That an irreverent and fearless Worship of the true God provokes him and deserves his consuming Wrath as well as the Idolatrous Worship of a false God Moses makes use of the same Words to deter the Israelites from Idolatry and worshipping of a false God as the Apostle makes use of to excite us to a Reverence and worshipping of the true God Secondly Whereas it is said that our God is a consuming Fire observe That our peculiar Interest in God is no Encouragement to cast off our most awful fear of God Our God is a consuming Fire though he hath laid down his Enmity against us yet he hath not laid down his Sovereignty and Majesty over us Indeed these two Expressions Our God and a consuming Fire at first blush and glance seem to look strangely and wistly one upon another but the Holy Ghost hath excellently tempered them He is our God this corrects that despairing Fear that otherwise would seize upon us from the consideration of God as a consuming Fire And he is a consuming Fire also that corrects that presumptuous Irreverence that else the consideration of our Interest in God might possibly embolden us unto You see now from the Explication of these Words what an excellent copious Portion of Scripture I have unfolded unto you wherein indeed is contained the true Art and Method of serving of God acceptably It is the Fear of God that quickens us to serve him and this Fear of God is pressed upon us and wrought in us by two strong Principles we have a Kingdom and what is strange too for those that have a Kingdom of God our God is a consuming Fire and therefore let us fear him Now this is such a Principle that carnal Men are not apt to apprehend they say if we have a Kingdom that cannot be moved why then should we fear And if God be such a consuming Fire why should we ever expect that Kingdom since we are but as Stubble But our Apostle hath well conjoyned them together and from that conjunction I shall raise and prosecute this one Proposition Doctrin That even those who stand highest in love and favour of God and have the fullest assurance thereof and of their interest in him as their God ought notwithstanding to fear him as a Sin-revenging God and a consuming Fire In the prosecuting of this I shall shew you First What fear of God it is that a Believer ought always to over-awe his Heart with Secondly Vpon what Grounds and Considerations he is thus to do it What there is in a reconciled God that may be a Ground and Motive to over-awe our Hearts with a fear of his Majesty What Fear is First What fear of God it is that a Believer ought to over-awe his Heart with Fear in general is described to be a Passion or an Affection of the Mind arising from the apprehension of some great Evil difficulty avoidable And as it is observed by some it usually carries in it three Things 1. There is in Fear a doubtfulness or uncertainty of the Event what it may prove and this is always a Torment to the Mind 2. There is in it a Terror that springs and ariseth from the greatness of the Evil apprehended and feared 3. There is in it a
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