that which Conscience judgeth right In which respect take notice what high language the Scripture adapteth to expresse this thing as calling a man in relation to this work of Conscience a debtor Rom. 1. 14. a servant Rom. 6. 16. bound Acts 20. 22. constrained â— Cor. 5. 14. necessitated 1 Cor. 9. 17. so as a man cannot otherwise doâ— Acts 4. 20. Such is the strength and vertue of Conscience that an action by its owne nature indifferent it can make bad or good and an Action in it selfe good it can corrupt and make naught Only an action which is ill and naught in it self it cannot make good Yea such is the validity of Conscience that it binds in some cases even when it erres for Conscience judging that to be unlawfull which is lawfull bindeth to abstaine from that lawfull Rom. 14. 14. and Conscience judging that to be debt and necessary which is only allowable and arbitrary bindeth to doe that arbitrary thing Rom. 14. 5. So as both these requisites taken in together and a due proportionable contemperation made therof to wit of both jâ—s and vis the light and heat the good eyes and lustly limbs of Conscience do constitute a rectified conscience fit to goe about that work and labour for which God created such a faculty and seated it in the soul of man A law without sufficient force to execute it is but a dead letter and lets a man lye like the lame creeple at the pooles side seeing the bath but wanting strength to step into it And force without law is but a riot serving for no better use then Sampsons brawny wrists without his eyes to pull an old house over our head to crush us Only a Conscience informedly strong is shee When then O Christian man or woman thou perceivest thy Conscience to be in this frame plight that it is legalâ—y valiant silence not her voyce muzzle not her mouth Say rather as Cant. 2. 1â— Let me see thy countenance let me heare thy voyce for sweet is thy voyce and thy countenâ—nce is comely Shake off that dull and lethargick sloth and stupidity which is upon it either in stimulation to good or repression from evill Cry aloud and say Hoe Conscience conscience up and be doing and the Lord shall be with thee To day is a Chancery-day to thine office Tell me first what 's the law in such and such a point Secondly tell me what correspondence for matter of fact have I held with that law Be a true witnesse either to excuse me if I have done well or accuse me if evill Lastly give right sentence and play the part of a just Judge in either condemning or absolving me that thus judging my self I may not be judged of the Lord And having thus shewed the method of rectifying the erring conscience let us now also declare the right order of pacifying the troubled conscience Upon which point before we fall directly we must needs put a difference for a difference there is betwixt sicknesse of fancie when the thoughts are distracted and drawne aside from off pleasing and contenting objects and doe wholly fasten and sit abrood on sad and dreadfull things and true formall trouble of minde which alwaies gathers to an head either by reason of solicitation to sin or remorse for sin distemper of fancie is commonly a wild and unreasonable thing and swerves from that we call judgement or recta ratio Or if it fasten upon sinne which sometimes it doth it s troubled either with scruples which is no sin or with some generall notions and idea's of transgression without due shame and sorrow for particular lapses or with motes and gnats more then with beames and camels Now rationall and congruous trouble of Conscience when God wounds and will heale is charactered by this that it is neither so superficiall for sin in generall as not to have an aspect upon particular miscarriages and misdemeanours nor so superstitious of particulars as not to regard the generall taint and depravednesse of nature also The best report or book-case hereof is in Psal. 51. which is * the chiefe of the seven penitentials There DAVID rightly pressed in his spirit and panged in his Conscience in deed layes the ponitentiall axe first to the root of the tree confessiâ—â— that which was the spawne and brood-mother of all his actuall wickednesse Behold I was shapen in iniquite and in sin did my mother conceive me ver. 5. and then that very sin in particular which had been as a thiefe in the candle or an obstruction in the liver to gangrene and waste all the quiet and peace of his minde Deliver me from bloud-guiltiness O God c vers. 14. This being premised by way of a praecognitum the Method it selfe now followes which consists in a certaine Scale or Ladder The severall grades or steps whereof are these 1. There can be no sound peace of Conscience till we be atoned and reconciled to God for Conscience is as Gods setting-dog or as his Serjeant which will not take off the arrest till its Master be satisfyed 2. Neither can there be any agreement or atonement with God without pardon of sin God will not be reconciled to any man lite pendente till the fault which caused the variance be forgiven 3. Nor can there be any remission without satisfaction for if the Salvation or damnation of all mankinde lay'd thereupon God will not cannot be unjust to himselfe to be kind to us 4. No satisfaction neither will serve the turne but such as is porportionable to the sault for t is the very Motto of Justice * Let the punishment be equall to the damage the payment to the debt 5. No satisfaction can be proportionable which is not infinite because our sins are committed against a Majestie absolutely infinite and they also are as neere infinite as number or hainousnesse can make them and if there could be another infinite besides God I would say it were the sinnes of the world 6. No infinite satisfaction can be made but by a person of infinite excellencie and worth whose personall dignitie must give such a tincture of price and value to his sufferings as what he suffered in a short time was equivalent to what all the world should have suffered for ever and ever 7. We never knew nor heard of never did any Historian tell or Prophet foretell of any such worthy person but JESUS CHRIST who was God-man man to suffer God to overcome in suffering man to dye God to rise againe 8. That price though most sufficient in it selfe yet not effectuall to us if not applyed and made our owne The best cordiall comforts not if not taken The most magisterial plaister heales not if not applyed to the fore 9. As that Application is made on Gods part by imputation so on our part by faith God must impute the righteousness of Christ unto us and we must receive it from God by the hand of faith 10.
continuall feast These ought to be handled plainly but Theologically And this will we doe if God permit as the Apostle speaks Heb. 6. 3. The first Point There is a certaine inmate placed by God and associated to the soule called Conscience We say indeed in vulgar speech that such a man hath no conscience or is a man of no conscience but that is but a Catechrestical form of language like that of the Italians who when they speake of some notable deperdite wretch say He 's a man without a soul and like that of holy Scripture which saith of some men that a they have no heart But to speak properly and as the thing is there is no man be he never so lost and reprobate minded but hath a naturalâ— Conscience A natural body may as easily walkâ— in the Sun without a shadow as the soul can in the light of naturall reason or of the word of God without the reverberations and ecchoings of Conscience Heare b Tullies divinity in this point We have each of us received from the immortall God a conscience which can by no means be separated from us Many for the more wholsome aire or better soyle have changed their place of abode and others to converse with God and themselves have abandoned the societie of men and dwelt in wildernesses and solitary retiremeÌ„ts where Satyres have danced and Ostriches dwelt yea and many have been so hacknied and tired out with the miseries of this life which like an heavy pack and an ill saddle have wrung their backs that they have leaped out of the pan into the fire and shifted their souls from their bodies but there was never any yet could shift Conscience from the soul Nero shifted from chamber to chamber but still his mother Agrippina's ghost seemed to pursue him Bessus in Plutarch was chased by himselfe too but still the swallows seemed to charter his crime There 's scarce any thing in nature so small and contemptible but can make a separation betwixt the soule and the body a hair in a draught of milke did it to Lucâ—â— a â—â—ie to Adrian a kick of Nero's heel to Poppea lice to Herod wormes to Antiochus mice and rats to Hatto Bishop of Mentz a meere conceit a thought a fancie to thousands but there is no gulph so deep no precipice so steepe no sword so sharpe no not that sword which can divide between the marrow and the bone which can make the conscience sever it selfe from the soul but still c Nocte dieque suum gestant in pectore testem That is Wake men or rest Within their brest Conscience will be a guest To proceed then What is this thing we call Conscience and wherein doth the power and efficacie of it consist Answ. It hath been long said Conscience is a thousand witnesses and it s as truly said Conscience hath a thousand definitions and descriptions A man would thinke there were much Conscience in the world to consider all the books that are written of the nature and cases of Conscience It may be said of them as S. John closeth up his Gospel The world would scarce containe the books that should be written if all were printed that hath been said talked disputed preached written of Conscience And yet as little may be spread and dilated into much so may much also be contracted into little As a great mountaine may produce only a little mouse so a little nut-shell may hold great Iliads Whosoever then understands these three Greeke words {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} and {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} or these three Latine words Lex Index and Judex or these three English words a Law a Witnesse a Judge is in a good way of proficiencie to understand the nature and essence of Conscience for in the execution of these three acts Conscience officiateth and dispatches its whole duty For first Conscience is a Law or a fair tablet wheâ— in is engraven by a divinâ— hand those truths anâ— principles which move iâ— set it a working Whicâ— principles are either naturall or acquired and hereupon comes in the distinction of Conscience naturall and illuminated And these principles being preserved and kept in the Conscience they are as Land-marks to her to saile by and as a law to her to live by in which regard this first act of Conscience is by the Greekes called {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} that is the records or conservation of right 〈◊〉 â—om â— ver. â—5 the Apostle cals it Lex scripta in cordibus The law written in our hearts For the second Conscience is a Witnesse or Evidence declaring and proving the truth whether the party standing at the barâ—e hath done contrary or according to that law for if the fact agree and hold measure with that law which Conscience tendered then it is Excusing witnesse or a witnesse pro if otherwise then it is an Accusing witness or a witness con in which regard this second act of Conscience is by the Greekes called {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} that is a Science with or together and Saint Paul in the same text Rom. 2. 15. expresseth both these testimonies Their Conscience also bearing witnesse and their thoughts ACCUSING or EXCUSING and thus Conscience is Index a signe or token For the third Conscience is also Judex an upright and impartiall Judge comparing together the law and the fact in the pursuance of a right sentence and out of that collation causing to result either a sentence of absolution the white stone Revel. 2. 17. if the fact agree with the law or a sentence of condemnation a the black stone if the law and fact jar and disagree This act the Greeks call {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} and to this judiciary act of Conscience belongs that text of Saint John 1. epist. 3. chap. 20. ver. If our hearts condemne us c. and Saint Chrysostome glossing upon Psal. 4. 4. Commune with your owne hearts c. bids us b Erect the tribunall of Conscience The summe thus farre is thus much Conscience is a Law propounding the rule to walk by a Witnesse to give in evidence for matter of fact a Judge to give sentence according to the evidence Another way to find out the very quidditative nature and being of Conscience may take the rise and hint from that Text 1 Pet. 3. 21. c The answer of a good Conscience as there the Apostle phraseth it so as Conscience is a response or returne to three severall queries The first question is de jure touching the Law or right as What is the rule or principle by which I am to be directed in this or that case what to do and what not to doe Unto which question Conscience is an answer by reading the letter of the Law and opening the code or booke Apoc. 20. 12. and declaring the law written in the heart
The second question is de facto touching the fact thus The law indeed appeares but how hast thou complyed in practice with this Law by doing according to it Unto which question Conscience is an answer in the language of Achan Josh. 7. 20. Thus and thus have I done The third question is de applicatione juris facti touching the commensuration of the fact with the law and the application of the one to the other thus what reward now remaines or what retribution is to be expected and unto this question Conscience is an Answer in the words of God to Cain Gen. 4. 7. If thou hast done well shalt thou not be accepted and if ill sin lies at the doore The last way to find out the nature of Conscience is by defining it to a practicall reasoning or argumentation in which are all the three parts of a formall Syllogisme in the major proposition is the law of Conscience in the minor or assumption lies the evidence or witnesse in the conclusion lies the sentence or judgement Examples What rule or precept teacheth in generall that instances and examples illustrate in speciall to which end let us here subnect two examples the former of an evill and accusing Conscience the latter of a good and accusing one Let Adam the first of men be substituted for the former 1. In the day thou eatest of the tree of knowledge thou shalt surely die Gen. 2. 17. There 's the law or proposition of this practicall Syllogisme there Conscience is an answer to question touching right 2. But I did eate thereof so runnes his confession Gen. 3 ver. 12. there Conscience is a witnesse a thousand witnesses That 's the assumption of the Syllogisme or an answer to the question touching the fact 3. Therefore I am become mortall I must dye Gen. 5. 5. there his Conscience was a Judge giving sentence of condemnation That 's the Conclusion of the Syllogisme or an answer to the question touching the application of the law and fact together The Application of this first Point It were very incongruous not to use Application while we are treating of Conscience whose vigor and force consists in Application and the best improvement and use of it is to provoke every man to take out the lesson of that wise Greeke d Know thy selfe which short saying doe but Christianize and there can be no better divinity O Christian man know and consider thy selfe learne not to undervalue even man in thee know thine owne dignity and excellencie know that within the narrow roome of thy brest there is seated a facultie which is both a law a witness and a judge which can make unanswerable Syllogismes and can out of strong premisses bring undeniable conclusions c Pythagoras his rule was truly divine to bid a man in the first place revere himself and be mostly ashamed of himselfe and f another of the same ranke and classis He that is not ashamed of himselfe how shall he blush before him who knows nothing And reason enforceth thus much for every man is most wronged by his own offence and every man must be arraigned both by and before his own Conscience and therefore surely no tribunall next the judgement seat of God himselfe ought to be so dreadfull to a man as the Areopagita of his owne heart which can at once alledge and plead Law produce witnesse and give judgement A learned Gentleman in a project of his conjoyneth and subordinateth these two propositions the former is this that Chastity makes a man reverence himselfe the latter is this that selfe awe or reverence next true Religion and the feare of God is the chiefest bridle to hold us in from villanie and sinne Which certainly is most true for if we did not shamefully underprize our selves how could we by lust covetousnesse intemperance and the like so degrade man in our selves and defile that humane nature which God vouchsafed to take into union with his owne divinity how could we give a birth-right for a messe of Lentils transgresse for a morsell of bread stake gold to a counter put down an eternall and immortall soule to a blast of fame an huske of pleasure a glow-worme of knowledge But now though this be very true of chastity yet change the subject of the first proposition and enunciate it of Conscience and see how it appears first then Conscience that lawyer and witnesse and judge of conscience that Triumvir and Trismegist of Conscience makes a man reverence and fear himself Secondly this selfe-reverence which proceeds from conscience and the trinity of offices in it is a threefold cord to whip us from sin and a threefold bond to tie us to vertue That which Salomon speaketh Eccles. 10. ver. 20. may be hither fitly applyed Curse not the King c. for a bird of the aire shall carry the voice and that which hath wings shall tell the matter What bird may this be but the little brest-bird and chest-bird of Conscience There is this story in Diogenes Laertius Xenocrates was one day walking in his garden when a sparrow pursued by some hawke or bird of the prey for shelter flew into the bosome of the Philosopher and being bid to put out his little foster-bird he answered no for it is a most unworthy thing to betray a guest Moralize it thus this Falcon or hawke represents every sinner and wicked person which hunts and pursues poor Conscience this sparrow thus pursued representeth Conscience which whilst the foxes have holes and the birds nests hath not where to roust it self till it take shelter in the brest of Xenocrates of some pious and conscientious person which holds it an unworthy thing to chase thence such a guest And hitherto of this The second Point ☜ By Grace and regeneration there is a divine quality and character imprinted upon the naturall Conscience which is Goodnesse AS a noble and vertuous woman giving lawes to her owne sexe enacted that a woman when she came to the age of thirty years should then lay down the title of fair and take up the title of good so when any man or woman is actually called and sanctified their Conscience then ought to be devested of the title of a naturall Conscience and assume the title of a good Conscience Therefore ye shall scarcely observe the name and word of Conscience stand alone in Scripture but commonly there is some title and Epithet of excellency joyned with it as i either a pure Conscience 2 Tim. 1. 3. or a k faire and beautifull Conscience Heb. 13. 18. or a l Conscience without offence Acts 24. 16. or a m good Conscience as here and else where 1 Pet. 3. 21. Now a good Conscience is either n honestly good or peaceably good for Goodnesse imprints its character upon the Conscience in these two qualities purity and peace or integrity and tranquillity or which still is the same in
practise patience and resolve with as little distemper as thou canst to wait on the Lord till light break forth and till he give thee the garments of joy for the spirit of heavinesse Thirdly practise fervent and frequent prayer that God will restore to thee the comfort of thy salvation againe and stablish thee with his free Spirit Fourthly the Sun may be risen and yet not seen because under a cloud there may bee fire for blowing so may there be the Comforter come and yet not perceived or felt for want of stirring up divine consolations by meditation and prayer and therefore 2 Tim. 1. 6. Stirre up the grace of God that is in thee Fifthly and lastly observe diligently whether the absence of divine consolations have befallen thee through divine dispensation onely to preserve thy humility and to try thee and which if it be so then thou canst doe no more but in the use of holy meanes and constant walking with God waite still for the season of his Grace not appointing a time for the mercy of the Lord nor setting downe a day when he should deliver thee as the holy widow Judith Chap. 8. If otherwise that thou hast been a cause thereof by provoking the Lord to anger then art thou to the former rules to adde the practise of true repentance 1. Seeking out as diligently as Joshua did for Achan that sin which did occasion thy woe and then washing that staine out of thy soule with the Fullers Sope of Contrition remembring ever to follow the streame up to the fountaines head that is to bewaile the generall corruption of thy nature as well as that particular sin Thus have I laboured to minister a word in due season to him that is ready to perish If I have been long in this point of the festivals of a good Conscience let this excuse me that men use not to eate feasts as the Israelites the Passeover with a staffe in their hand and shoes on their feet but to stay at them And so much concerning the third point viz. That a Conscience thus qualified with the goodnesse both of Integritie and tranquillitie is a Feast The fourth Point This feast of Conscience ☜ is a continuall feast AS Goodnesse was the Adjunct of Conscience so Continuance is the Adjunct of the FEAST Wherein this Feast excels all the sumptuous and prodigall feasts of Nero Heliogabalus Caesar Bargia Mark Anthony Cleopatra or whosoever else either divine or humane pennes have storyed on for their most prodigious and luxurious riots when they made both sea and land contribute their utmost to furnish their tables The longest feast that I find recorded any were is that of Ahasucrus which he made in the third yeare of his raigne to all his Princes and Servants a feast of an hundred and fourescore dayes but what 's that to a continuall feast how much short is that to him who like the rich glutton in the Gospell fareth deliciously every day Let us state the point The Theame to be spoken on is this that The testimony of a good Conscience comforteth and refresheth a man at all times and in all conditions of life A good Conscience is a Pillow if a man lye down a Cushion if a man sit a Staffe if a man walke an Arbour or Gourd if a man would shade himselfe If a man be sick 't is a Physician if in suit it is a Lawyer if wrongfully accused it is a true witnesse if unjustly condemned it is a righteous Judge If a man bee thirsty it is a refreshing river if hungry it is a plentifull feast In a word it is a mans Sun by day and his Moone by night There is no state or condition of life can befall a man either so prosperous or so adverse but in it a man shall find the joyes and delights of a good Conscience Consult the Oracle and you shall find instances in the severall stations and conditions of life as First in inward tentation by the Examples of Moses Exod. 14. 15. and of Hannah 1 Sam. 1. 17. Secondly in outward trouble by the Example of Job Chap. 27. ver. 5. and of Abimelech Gen. 20. 5. Thirdly in life by the Example of Saint Paul 2 Cor. 1. 12. Fourthly in death by the Example of Hezekiah 2 Kings 20. 3. Fifthly at judgment when Conscience shall be triumphant upon the word of admission Come good and faithfull Servant receive the prepared Kingdome Enter into thy Masters joy Lastly after judgement in heaven for then and there all imperfections of the Peace of Conscience shall be taken away all perfection thereof shall be added There shall be no more interruptions intermissions or intercisions of tranquillity of mind but as in hell to the wicked their ill Conscience shall be a most perfect and continuall worme so to the godly their good Conscience shall be a most perfect and continuall feast It was a good Conscience made the three Children rejoyce in their fiery fornace Daniel in the Lions den Paul and Silas in the stocks the Martyrs at the stake and those Primitive Worthies catalogued Heb. 11. 35. which would not be delivered That they might obtaine a better resurrection In summe if Conscience be truly good that is first honestly good and then peaceably good accordingly as was before distinguished it feasteth and banquetteth the heart at all places and at all times Contiguously and Continually Yet are there certaine speciall seasons of God's comfortable Visitation wherein hee doth more fully and largely dispense Divine Consolation then he doth at other times namely 1. At a Christians first Conversion unto God as we may see in both those famous Converts Lydia and the Jaylor Act. 16. And this God doth to set and knit the weake joynts of a Christian and to give him a taste and antepast that he shall not lose but only exchange joyes such as are dilute and grosse for such as are sincere and pure 2. After some good performed especially if it have come off well in regard of matter manner and end After a good worke so done God useth extraordinarily to cheere the Conscience which is both part of the Performers Merces and Reward and withall an earnest and pledge that the whole shal follow and be all paid in 3. Upon evill suffered also no lesse then upon good done for under the crosse God hath often after a very eminent manner shed his consolations into the heart Paul and Silas sung in the Jayle Philip Landgrave of Hess long a prisoner under Charles the fift for the cause of Religion being asked what had supported him during his whole trouble answered he had felt the divine consolations even of the Martyrs themselves all that while And a cloud of witnesses have said the like that under the crosse suffered for a good Conscience they have felt those sensible comforts which they were never partakers of all their life besides either before or after 4. After the brunt of some sore tentation