Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
conscience_n	bernard_n	good_a	quiet_a	1,681	5	10.3339	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A77614	Precious remedies against Satans devices or, salve for believers and unbelievers sores. Being a companion for those that are in Christ, or out of Christ; that are high, or low, learned, or illiterate, staggering, or wandering; that slight, or neglect ordinances, under a pretence of living above them; that are growing (in spiritualls) or decaying; that are tempted, or deserted, afflicted, or opposed; that have assurance, or that want assurance; that are self-seekers, or the common-wealths caterpillars; that are in love sweetly united, or that yet have their spirits too much imbittered, &c. By Thomas Brookes, a willing servant unto God, and the faith of his people, in the glorious gospel of Christ, at Margarets fish-street hill.	Brooks, Thomas, 1608-1680.	1658 (1658)	Wing B4954; Thomason E1426_1	231,671	413

that he might be cast down would be set higher then others when 't is but in order to his being brought downe lower then others There is not a wicked man in the world that is set up with Lucifer as high as Heaven but shall with Lucifer be brought down as low as Hell Canst thou think seriously of this oh soul and not say O Lord I humbly crave that thou wilt let me be little in this world that I may be great in another world and low here that I may be high for ever hereafter Let me be low and feed low and live low so I may live with thee for ever let me now be cloathed with rags so thou wilt cloath me at last with thy Robes let me now be set upon a dunghill so I may at last be advanc'd to sit with the● upon thy Throne Lord make me rather gracious then great inwardly holy then outwardly happy and rather turn me into my first nothing yea make me worse then nothing rather then set me up for a time that thou mayest bring me low for ever The seventh Remedy against this Device 7 Remedy of Satan is solemnly to consider that God doth often most plague and punish those whom others think he doth most spare and love that is God do's plague and punish them most with spirituall judgements which are the greatest the sorest and the heaviest whom he least punishes with temporall punishments there are no men on earth Psal 81. 12. Psal 78. 26 27 28 29 30 31. Psal 106. 15. He gave them their request but sent leannesse into their soule 'T is a heavy plague to have a fat body and a lean soul a house full of gold and a heart full of sin so internally plagued as those that meet with least externall plagues Oh! the blindnesse of mind the hardnesse of heart the searednesse of Conscience that those souls are given up to who in the eye of the world are reputed the most happy men because they are not outwardly afflicted and plagued as other men Ah souls 't were better that all the temporall plagues that ever befell the children of men since the fall of Adam should at once meet upon your souls then that you should be given up to the least spirituall plague to the least measure of spirituall blindnesse or spirituall hardnesse of heart c. nothing will better that man nor move that man that is given up to spirituall judgements let God smile or frowne stroke or strike cut or kill he minds it 'T is better to have a sore then a seared conscience 'T is better to have no heart then a hard heart no mind then a blind mind not he regards it not let life or death heaven or hell be set before him it stirs him not he is made up on his sin and God is fully set to doe Justice upon his soule this mans preservation is but a reservation unto a greater condemnation This man can set no bounds to himselfe he is become a brat of fathomlesse perdition He hath guilt in his bosome and vengeance at his back where-ever he goes neither ministry nor misery neither miracle nor mercy can mollifie his heart and if this soul be not in hell on this side hell who is who is 8 Remedy The eigth Remedy against this Device of Satan is to dwell more upon that strict account that vain men must make for all that good that they doe injoy In this day men shall give an account De bonis commissis de bonis dimissis de malis commissis de malis permissis of good things committed unto them of good things neglected by them of evils committed by them and of evills suffered by them then upon the outward good they doe injoy Ah! did men dwell more upon that account that they must ere long give for all the mercies that they have injoyed and for all the favours that they have abused and for all the sins they have committed would make their hearts to tremble and their lips to quiver rottennesse to enter into their bones it would cause their soules to cry out and say oh that our mercies had been fewer and lesser that our account might have been easier and our torment and misery for our abuse of so great mercy not greater then we are able to bear O cursed be the day wherein the Crown of honour was set upon our heads and the treasures of this world were cast into our laps O cursed be the day wherein the sun of prosperity shin'd so strong upon us and this flattering world smil'd so much upon us as to occasion us to forget God to slight Jesus Christ to neglect our souls and to put far from us the day of our account Philip the third of Spaine whose life was free from grosse evills professed that he would rather loose all his Kingdome then offend God willingly yet being in the Agony of death and considering more throughly of his In die judicii plus valebit conscientia pura quam marsupia plena Bernard Then shall a good conscience be more worth then all the worlds good account he was to give to God feare struck into him and these words brake from him Oh! would to God I had never reigned oh that those years I have spent in my Kingdome I had lived a life in the wildernesse oh that I had lived a solitary life with God! how much more securely should I now have dyed how much more confidently should I have gone to the Throne of God What doth all my glory profit me but that I have so much the more torment in my death God keeps an exact account of every penny that 's laid out upon him and his and that is laid out against him and his and this in the day of account men shall know and feel though now they wink and Hierome still thought that that voyce was in his ears Surgite mortui venite ad judicium Arise you dead and come to judgement As oft as I think on that day how doth my whole body quake and my heart within me tremble will not understand The sleeping of vengeance causeth the overflowing of sin and the overflow of sin causeth the awaking of vengeance abused mercy will certainly turn into fury Gods forbearance is no quittance the day is at hand when he will pay wicked men for the abuse of new and old mercies if he seem to be slow yet he is sure he hath leaden heels but iron hands the farther he fetcheth his blow or draweth his arrow the deeper he will wound in the day of vengeance Mens actions are all in print in heaven and God will in the day of account read them aloud in the ears of all the world that they may all say amen to that righteous sentence that he shall passe upon all the despisers and abusers of mercy The ninth Device that Satan hath to 9 Device draw the soule to sin

and companions with thee hast thou not often purposed promised vowed and resolved to enter upon the Repentanceis a work that must be timely done or men are utterly undone for ever Aut poenitendum aut pereundum practice of repentance but to this day couldest never attain it Surely 't is in vain to strive against the streame where it is so impossible to overcome thou art lost and cast for ever to hell thou must to hell thou shalt ah souls he that now tempts you to sin by suggesting to you the easinesse of repentance will at last to work you to despaire present repentance as the hardest work in all the world and a work as far above man as Heaven is above Hell as light is above darknesse Oh! that you were wise to break off your sins by timely repentance Now the seventh Device that Satan 7 Device hath to draw the soul to sin is by making the soul bold to venture upon the occasions of sin Saith Satan you may walk by the Harlots door though you won't goe into the Harlots bed you may sit and sip with the drunkard tho you won't be drunk with the drunkard you may look upon Jezabels beauty and you may play and toy with Daliloh though you doe not commit wickednesse with the one or the other you may with Achan handle the golden wedge though you doe not steale the golden wedge c. Now the Remedies against this Device are these that follow THe first Remedy is solemnly to 1 Remedy dwell upon those Scriptures that doe expressly command us to avoid the occasions of sin and the least appearance of evill 1 Thess 5. 22. Abstaine from all Epiphanius saith that in the old Law when any dead body was carried by any house they were injoyn'd to shut their doors and windows appearance of evill whatsoever is heterodox unsound and unsavory shun it as you would doe a Serpent in your way or poyson in your meats Theodosius tare the Arrians Arguments presented to him in writing because he found them repugnant to the Scriptures and Augustine retracted even Ironies onely because they had the appearance of lying When God had commanded the Jewes to abstain from Swines flesh they would not so much as name it but in their common talk would call a Sow another thing To abstain from all appearance of evill is to doe nothing wherein sin appears or which hath a shadow of sin Bernard glosseth finely Quicquid est male celoratū Whatever is of an ill shew or of ill report that he may neither wound conscience nor credit we must shun and be shie of the very shew and shadow of sinne if either we tender our credit abroad or our comfort at home It was good counsell that Livia gave her Husband Socrates speaketh of two young men that flung away their belts when being in an Idols Temple the lustrating water fell upon them detesting saith the Historian the garment sported by the flesh Augustus it behoveth thee not onely not to doe wrong but not to seeeme to doe so c. So Jude 23. v. And others save with fear pulling them out of the fire hating even the garment spotted by the flesh 'T is a phrase taken from legall uncleanesse which was contracted by touching the houses the vessells the garments of uncleane persons Under the Law men might not touch a menstrous cloath nor God would not accept of a spotted peace-offering So we must not onely hate and avoid grosse sins but every thing that may carry a savor or susprition of sin we must abhor the very signes and tokens of sin so in Proverbs 5. ver 8. Remove thy way far from her and come not nigh the doore of her house He that would not be burnt must dread the fire Hee that would not heare the bell must not meddle with the rope To venture upon the occasion of sin and then to pray lead us not into One said as oft as I have been among vaine men I returned home lesse a man then I was before temptation is all one as to thrust thy finger into the fire and then to pray that it might not be burnt So in the 4. Prov. 14. 15. you have another command Enter not in the path of the wicked and goe not in the way of evell men avoid it and passe not by it turne from it and passe away This triple gradation of Solomon sheweth with a great Emphasie how necessary it is for men to flee from all appearance of sin as the Sea-man shuns sands and shelves and as men shun those that have the plague-sores running upon them as weeds doe endanger the corne as bad humor● doe endanger the bloud or as an infected house doth indanger the neighbourhood so doth the company of the bad endanger those that are good intirenesse with wicked conforts is one of the strongest chaines of hell and bindes us to a participation both of sin and punishment The second Remedie against this device 2 Remedy of Satan is solemnly to consider that ordinarily there is no conquest over sin without the soule turnes from the occasion of sin 't is impossible for that man to get the conquest of sin that playes and sports with the occasions of sin God will not remove the tentation except The Fable saith that the Butterflie asked the Owle how he should deale with the fire which had singed her wings who counsel'd her not to behold so much as its smoak we turne from the occasion It is a just and righteous thing with God that he should fall into the pit that will adventure to dance upon the brink of the pit and that he should be a slave to sin that will not flee from the occasions of sin As long as there is fuell in our hearts for a temptation we cannot be secure he that hath gun-powder about him had need keep far enough off from sparkles to rush upon the occasions of sin is both to tempt our selves and to tempt Satan to tempt our souls 't is very rare that any soule playes with occasions of sin but that soul is insnar'd by sin 't is seldome that God keeps that soul from the acts of sin that will not keep off from the occasions of sin he that adventures upon the occasions of sin is as he that would quench the fire with Oyle which is a fuell to maintaine it and increase it Ah souls often remember how frequently you have been overcome by sin when you have boldly gon upon the occasions of sin look back souls to the days of your vanity wherein you have been as easily conquered as tempted vanquished as assaulted when you have played with the occasions of sin and therefore as you would for the future be kept from the acting of sin and be made victorious over sin oh flee from the occasions of sin The third Remedy against this Device 3 Remedy of Satan is seriously to consider

of God upon them They send forth their little ones like a flock and their children dance They take the Timbrell and Harp and rejoyce at the Men that injoy all worldly comforts may truly say Omnes humanae conjolationes sunt desolationes sound of the Organ they spend their dayes in wealth their eyes stand out with fatnesse they have more then heart can wish And they have no bands in their death but their strength is firme They are not in trouble as other men as David and Job speak yet all this is nothing to what they want they want interest in God Christ the Spirit the Promises the Covenant of Grace and everlasting Glory They want acceptation and reconciliation with God They want Righteousnesse Justification Sanctification Adoption and Redemption They want the pardon of sin and power against sin and freedome from the dominion of sin They want that favour that is better then life and that joy that is unspeakable and full of glory and that peace that passes understanding and that Nec Christus nec coelum pati tur hyperbolen Neither Christ nor Heaven can be hyperbolized grace the least spark of which is more worth then Heaven and Earth They want a House that hath foundations whose builder and maker is God they want those riches that perish not that glory that fades not that Kingdome that shakes not Wicked men are the most needy men in the world yea they want those two things that should render their mercies sweet viz. The blessing of God and content with their condition and without which their Heaven is but Hell on this side Hell When their hearts are lifted up and grown big upon the thoughts of their abundance if conscience do's but put A crowne of gold cannot cu●e the head ach nor a velvet slipper cannot ease the Gout no mo●e can honour or riches c. quiet and still the Conscience The heart of man is a three square triangle which the whole round circle of the world cannot fill as Mathematicians say but all the corners will complaine of ●mptines and hunger for som●hing else in a word and say 't is true here is this and that outward mercy oh but where is an interest in Christ Where is the favour of God Where are the comforts of the holy Ghost Where are thy evidences for Heaven c. This word from Conscience makes the mans countenance to change his thoughts to be troubled his heart to be amazed and all his mercies on the right hand and left to be as dead and withered Ah! were but the eyes of wicked men open to see their wants under their abundance they would cry out and say as Absalom did What are all these to me so long as I cannot see the Kings face What 's honour and riches and the favour of Creatures so long as I want the favour of God the pardon of my sins an interestin Christ and the hopes of glory O Iod give me these or I dye give me these or else I shall eternally dye The fift Remedy against this Device 5 Remedy of Satan is solemnly to confider that outward things are not as they seem and are esteemed they have indeed a glorious outside but if you view their insides you will easily find that they fill the head full of cares and the heart full of feares what if the fire should consume one part of my estate and the sea should be a grave to swallow up another part of my estate what if my servants should be unfaithfull abroad and my children should be deceitful at home ah the secret fretting vexing and gnawing that doth daily yea hourly attend those mens souls whose hands are full of worldly goods 'T was a good speech of an Emperour you said he gaze on my purple Robe ●nd golden Crown but did you know what cares are under it you would not take it up from the ground to have it 'T was a true saying of Augustine on the 26 Psalm many are Multi amando res noxias sunt miseri habendo miseriores August miserable by loving hurtfull things but they are more miserable by having them It is not what men injoy but the principle from whence it comes that makes men happy much of these outward things doe usually cause great distraction great vexation and great condemnation at last to the posessors of them if God gives them in his wrath do not sanctifie them in his love they will at last be witnesses against a man and racks to torture and torment a man and milstones for ever to sink a man in that day when God shall call men to an account not for the use but for the abuse of mercy The sixt Remedy against this Device 6 Remedy of Satan is seriously to consider the end and the designe of God in heaping up mercy upon the heads of the wicked and in giving them a quietus est rest Valerian the Roman Emperour fell from being an Emperour to be a foot-stool to Sapor King of Persia Dionysius King of Sicily fell from his Kingly glory to be a School-master The brave Queen Zenobia was brought to Rome in golden chaines and quiet from those sorrows and sufferings that others sigh under David in that 73 Psal 17 18 19 20 verses shews the end and designe of God in this saith he When I went into the Sanctuary of God then I understood their end Surely thou diddest set them in slippery places thou castedst them downe into destruction How are they brought into desolation as in a moment they are utterly consumed with terrors As a dreame when one awaketh so O Lord when thou awakest thou shalt despise their image So in the 92 Psal 7. When the wicked spring as grasse and when all the workers of iniquity doe flourish it is that they shall be destroyed for ever Gods setting them up is but in order to his casting them down his raising them high is but in order to his bringing them low Exod. 9. 16. And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up for to shew in thee my power and that my name may Valens an Emperour Belisarius a famous general Henry the 4th Bajazeth Pythias Great Pompey and William the Conqueror these from being very high were brought very low they all fell from great glory and majesty to great poverty and misery Da Domine ut sic possideamus temporalia ut non perdamus aeterna Bern. Grant us Lord that we may so partake of temporall felicity that we may not lose eternall be declared throughout all the earth I have constituted and set thee up as a But-mark that I may let flie at thee and follow thee close with plague upon plague till I have beaten the very breath out of thy body and got my self a name in setting my feet upon the neck of all thy pride power pomp and glory Ah soules what man in his wits would be lifted up