Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
conscience_n	continual_a	day_n	feast_n	1,032	5	9.4110	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30242	The Scripture directory for church-officers and people, or, A practical commentary upon the whole third chapter of the first Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians to which is annexed The godly and the natural mans choice, upon Psal. 4, vers. 6, 7, 8 / by Anthony Burgesse ...	Burgess, Anthony, d. 1664.	1659 (1659)	Wing B5656; Wing B5648_CANCELLED; ESTC R3908	509,568	411

self-seeking viz. of immortality and honour and glory Rom. 2.7 This is good to be observed because some tender people have been much troubled as if they were gone no further then hypocrites because they find such desires of Heaven and Glory moving them in their duties Oh! they think this is to serve God for their own ends Did not Christ live and die for me though he got nothing by me and why should not I for him Now two things we say to this 1. It 's true in every godly man there is such an ingenuous Principle of grace in him that he loveth God and Christ for their own sakes Though there were no Heaven no Hell yet such is his spiritual constitution that he cannot but love God and hate sinne The reason is because he is made a new Creature hath a Divine nature And that is a spontaneous free and willing principle to what is holy without any outward motives As a dutifull Child loveth his Father though poor though he hath no Inheritance to give him As the Mother loveth her Child and takes all that care about it from an inward 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when there is no hope of a reward Hence the motions of grace are compared to thirsting and hungering Now you know we do not use to promise a reward to an hungry man if he will eat And thus you may see David often in those pure strains of love and longing after God making him the Object of his delight he loveth God that he may love him more And he loveth him because he loveth him If he said of humane love that it was a nescio quid burning in a mans breast it 's true of Divine love But yet 2. It 's lawfull for all this to stirre up a mans heart to this duty because of the glorious Reward God hath promised both by Precept and Example Precept For in several places the Scripture exhorteth to our duty Because our work will not be in vain 1 Cor. 15 ult We judge these afflictions light saith the Apostle while we behold the things that are not seen 2 Cor 4. ult Christ sheweth his Disciples the glory of Heaven that thereby they might not be discouraged in doing or suffering for him Now the Word of God must stirre up an unlawfull coveting in the heart if seeking thus for eternal Glory were a sinne And then we have the Example of Christ himself He in all his Sufferings had a● e●e to the joy that was se● before him which made him endure the Cross And of Moses it is said Heb. 11.26 He had respect to the recompence of the Reward He did mark it diligently as the word sign●fieth We must therefore distinguish between Amor m●rc●dis and Amor mercenarius a loue of the Reward is not presently a mercenary love but then when it 's only for that when there is no inward change of the nature and frame of a man Thirdly The reward of godliness or working for God is again two-fold Either Temporary here in this life or Eternal in that come Godliness hath the promise of this life 1 Tim. 4 8. No promise of any temporal mercy is made to a wicked man God indeed by his Providence d●sposeh many of those outward mercies to them but they are not by the promise to them They are Ismael's not Isaac's For all the Promises are Yea and Amen firm and su●e in Christ 2 Cor. 1. God indeed gave Nebuchadnezar a temporal reward for his service in destroying Tyre And Austin saith That that earthly dominion the Romanes had in the world was a reward of their Civil Justice But these things are not still the fruit of a gracious Promise Therefore they have them not in special mercy neither are they sanctified to them They have a right and dominion concerning them but not a sanctified use They are to them as Saul thought Michall would have been to David to his utter ruine and ensnaring of him Otherwise Godly men only have the Promises of all the good in the world No good thing will he withhold from them that fear him Psal 84.11 But the Reason why these Promises are not alwaies made good to them is Because this would hind●r the grand Promises that are for the●r spiritu●l good These things explained let us consider Wherein lyeth this reward of working for God either in this life or in the life to come And truly in this life if there were no Heaven no Happiness no Enjoyment of God there is enough to put us on it As First There is a great deal of Peace and Comfort of Cons●ience in doing what is good The very Heathens observed that Virtus est sibi praemium Vertue is a reward to it self It brings such quietness such tranquil●ty such comfort that it 's desirable to be doing Gods work if there were nothing else When David with the people offered so willingly unto God what a deal of comfort and joy did David find in the very duty it self Who are we that we should be able to offer so willingly 1 Chron. 29.14 For as on the other side sinne hath a sting and carrieth a tor●ment with it filling the Conscience with fear and trembling and horrour as in Cain and Judas None rationally would have the pleasures of sinne for a season for the tortures and torments of it which are perpetual Thus on the contrary Faith and other Graces they are accompanied with joy in the holy Ghost When a man keeps a good Conscience towards God and man he hath a continual Feast better then Dives he fareth diliciously every day Pindar a very Heathen Poet called a good Conscience The sweet Nurse in old age yea in young age and all ages Not but that the godly themselves may be many times in great trouble of spirit You see David often crying out upon his soul because it was so cast down and calling upon himself to trust in God But this disquietness in the godly is caused partly by their own fault and partly by the Devil he is a roaring Lyon he disquiets their peace though God indeed suffer him for his wise ends as you see it was to Job Oh then that you would alwaies be doing Gods work If you did but know how comfortable and how sweet it is above the labour for worldly things your hearts would be enamoured with it Secondly When we do Gods work he further rewards with more spiritual strength and enlargeth our Abilities so that the more we work for God the more we may Thus in the Parable He that had five he gained ten Luk. 19 16. To him that hath shall be given And the promise is That the godly shall not be faint or weary but renew their ctrength like an Eagle Isa 40.31 Yea as they grow so they shall persevere and overcome and be established in what is good Now this is a great Reward in a godly mans account though the wicked regard it not That

with what indignation and anger should a wicked man look upon his sins You have deprived me of God and do you ask what I aile My lusts my wickednesse have taken God from me how can I then but rore out Would these be as good as a God to me This should make thee cast off all sinne as Paul did the Viper saying Wilt thou be as good as great as all-sufficient to me as God would be if I do serve him Secondly This privative destruction lyeth in the want of all comfort and peace and joy that might be in the soul Take away the Sunne and there remaineth nothing but horrible darknesse take God away and the soul is full of all darknesse and horrour Hence in Hell are said to be gnawing wormes and weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth Dives desired but a drop of water to coole his tongue and but the top of his tongue yet could not obtain it not a drop and for the top of the tongue This was to shew that there could not be the least comfort the least ease the least quietnesse of conscience and indeed this is the great part of Hell Some have thought Hell to be nothing but the torments and horrour of conscience but the Scripture cannot so be put off Yet certainly this is the Hell of Hell the greatest part of destruction that the guilt of a mans sinnes shall perpetually gnaw and teare his conscience which will then be awakened and will fall like so much scalding Lead into the eye of a man And if a good conscience be a continual Feast that tormenting disquieted conscience in Hell will be a continual unspeakable evil Oh we see but what the very drops of this torment hath wrought upon men Cain went up and down trembling all the pleasures all the delights and travils he took could not drive out that trembling Judas with what horrour doth he cry out He cannot beare his burden And therefore the damned brought in crying to the mountains to cover them and the hils to hide them Rev. 6.16 Oh is this nothing to you or a light matter who sit and hear these things Those grosse and foul sinnes which now make no torment nor gripings in thy conscience thou canst runne into all beastly excesse and thou findest no gnawing worms upon thee Oh consider and believe it the time is coming when conscience will be awakened and not the least corner of thy soul will be freed from torments and howlings Go on then and eat and drink and care for none of these things but remember this destruction will fall upon thee whether thou wilt or no. Oh that men would pitty themselves Or rather Oh that God would pitty your souls and make you to consider the latter end of your sinnes At last they will bite like an Adder and sting like a Serpent Thirdly There is a losse of all outward help and comfort from others Here in this world though we many times are in grievous losses yet some comfort from a friend is like the pleasant showers to the parched ground and though they cannot deliver out of trouble yet a word of comfort doth much refresh But here the destroyed sinner is excluded from comforts and friends and all When Absolom was shut out of Davids presence then there was a Joab to mediate for favour again but when this destruction is then no Saint or Angel can either comfort or help us Yea which is saddest of all then that Mediatory Office of Christ doth cease Then there is no Advocate to make Intercession then the Blood of Christ will do no good In the midst of all that guilt and trouble for sinne we have in this life there is still this hope That Christ is a Mediatour to reconcile God and the sinner but when this eternal destruction shall come upon thee then there is no more hope or help by Christ then Christ is of no more use or advantage to thee So that the losse of all help and all hope through Christ must needs make this destruction more terrible And as for the second part of this Destruction which is Positive That lieth in the accumulation and heaping up of all misery imaginable and possible even for a God to inflict or the soule and body of man to receive It 's I say in the heaping up of all misery For the state of blessednesse lyeth not in any one or many comforts but in the aggregation of all desirable mercies So this state of destruction lyeth not in the sustaining of one or many miseries but the aggregation and conflux of all Therefore the Scripture expresseth it under many names of terrour sometimes darknesse utter darknesse sometimes a prison and chaines of darknesse therein sometimes fire and brimstone eternal fire sometimes a place of weeping wailing and gnashing of teeth sometimes death and everlasting death sometimes judgement and condemnation Now the Scripture useth not these words in vaine but would hereby awaken and terrifie us that we might at last cast away our sinnes which are the onely fuell for this fire In the next place Let us consider the Aggravation of this Destruction And First It 's an Eternal Destruction A destruction that is alwayes destroying and yet the party is not extinguished If the Socinian annihilation were this destruction or Origen's opinion for the salvation of men and Devils at last after thousands of yeares torments could prove true here was some hope but it 's a living death and a dying life it 's everlasting fire it 's the worme that never dieth In all earthly calamities on this side Hell this is a mitigation that they are not everlasting they are but evil for a moment there will be an end But here thou art kept alive to be tormented for ever Oh what a thunder bolt is that word for ever Torment for ever Horrour for ever Fire for ever yet so it is Secondly It 's an Vniversal Destruction in a moral sense There is not the least mixture of any joy of any hope For as Heaven is a state of unmixed happinesse there cannot a drop of gall fall into that ocean of happinesse So here there cannot a drop of honey fall into that ocean of gall we told you not a drop of water for the top of the tongue only could be obtained much lesse for the whole body Thirdly It 's an Inevitable Destruction God will destroy Who can stop Gods hand Who can hinder his blow If a little of Gods wrath be kindled Who can abide How much lesse when he stirreth up all his wrath It is the day of his wrath when Kingdomes and Nations feele the day of his temporal wrath How sad hath it been Jerusalem had her day of Gods wrath but these are onely drops to that ocean of his wrath Now manifold Uses may be made of this but I shall instance onely in one here Of Instruction Here is a plain and evident discovery of the madnesse and

Fifthly Present good things are a godly mans Because they are accompanied with the love and favour of God which is infinitely more than the good things themselves Non tam donis quam à Deo datis That all these good things are the effects of Gods favour and gracious reconciliation through Christ this makes them ours in an eminent manner When God gave Abraham such large worldly revenues and withall said He himself would be his great reward Gen. 15.1 This was the fulnesse of happinesse And so you may see David accounting it when he esteemeth more of Gods favour the light of his countenance and justification of his person more than all his victory and successe which he had To have these good things and Christ also to have these mercies and the light of Gods countenance is to have the fulnesse of earth and Heaven also And this is the reason why a little that a righteous man hath is better than great treasures of the wicked because he hath Gods favour and his love with it A good conscience is a continual feast Now no man hath a good conscience but he who is reconciled with God through Christ and doth enjoy the pardon of his sinnes which is evidenced by his repentance and forsaking of them but no wicked man is thus he may have a stupified conscience not a good conscience he may be at ease not be tormented and disquieted within but yet have no solid joy Lastly These prosperous events are theirs Because God giveth contentation of spirit The blessing of the Lord maketh rich and he addeth no sorrow with it Prov. 10.22 Many men have these outward mercies but then many thorns grow up with them There is so much gall in their honey that all the sweetnesse is gone This contentation is also accompanied with a faithfull dependance and stedfast trusting in God for present provision Hence we are directed to pray for our daily bread which implieth a present provision fit for us in every state We come now to the second sort of present events and those are tribulations and afflictions There are none of these present troubles upon thee though grievous and burdensome but it is for thy good Though the Apostle saith No affliction for the present seemeth joyous but grievous Heb. 12.11 Yet truly for the very present though not to thy sense yet to thy judgment it ought to be joyous Hence Jam. 1. we are commanded To count it all joy when we fall into divers temptations Now they may well be called ours First Because they come from Gods gracious love to us That same love which is the fountain of all thy earthly comforts is also the cause of all thy earthly afflictions It 's the same hand that doth stroke thee and strike thee What a comfortable passage is that Heb. 12.6 Whom I love I chasten and if ye were without chastisement ye were bastards and no children David also affirmeth Ps 119.15 Out of very faithfulnesse thou hast afflicted me So that in this dead Lion thou mayest find honey Even out of this Rock may come refreshing waters What a stay should this be to thee Why art thou dejected Why doest thou cry out that none is like thee Thy trouble thy blacknesse thy tribulations are for thy advantage as much as all the mercies thou ever enjoyedst Go to the fountain from whence they came and that is nothing but precious love Secondly They are thine for the blessed and heavenly effects they work on the godly so that they could not be so well without them Now of many excellent effects Consider 1. They are to humble us for sinne to make us feel how bitter it is to go out of Gods way And is not this lesson of great consequence Mich. 7.9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him And I opened not my mouth because thou Lord didst it Psal 39.9 So that the bitternesse of sinne makes it terrible and grievous to them Now they cry out What have I to do with sinne any more What profit have I of such sins that now do so wound me 2. Another end is To make us more vigilant for the future to preserve us against future temptations We have been burnt already the rod of the Almighty hath been already on our backs and can we entertain such stinging vipers again Oh they remember the wounds the desolation and darknesse of soul they were plunged in Thirdly These afflictions are ours Because they are exercises to draw out our graces our faith our patience our heavenly mindednesse and thereby our crown of glory is greater Thus the Apostle saith These light and momentany afflictions work an eternal weight of glory 2 Cor. 4.17 And afflictions are called The precious trial of our faith 1 Pet. 1.7 As gold to the fire as winnowing to the corn as washing and rinsing to the foul cloaths the same are tribulations to a godly man These are the file to get off all their rust These are the waters of Noah to raise the Ark up higher to Heaven Thus you see the bitterest event every day is thy good and happinesse thou art blessed full and blessed empty blessed laughing and blessed mourning blessed having all things and blessed having nothing Vse of Terrour to wicked men They are in such a state that whatsoever befals them makes them more sinfull and so more miserable Thy good things thy evil things they all tend to make thee more evil It 's like drink to the Dropsie It 's like oyl to the flames if God give thee plenty and abundance of these things Oh then judge not your selves happy by having these things but by the sanctified use of them Every night thou mayest make up thy accounts and say my soul is the worse for this and that to day Wicked men will not believe that all things are thus a snare to them but the event will shew it Vse 2 Of Comfort and again of comfort to the godly Whatsoever is come upon thee though never so sudden never so great and terrifying this is from love and with love Or things to come all are yours We now come to the last particular in the last Enumeration Or things to come By things to come Some we told you understood the Revelations and Prophesies that were about things to happen in after ages But we are to take it as largely as the words beare Now the things to come are of two sorts First What is to come in this life For no man knoweth what may befall him ere he dieth or at death which made the Heathen say that knew not this Text Ante obitum nemo foelix c. Or else they may be future things in the world to come For God doth keep the best wine till the last The godly have but clusters of grapes here they come into the Land of Canaan it self hereafter Now of both these future things we are to speak and for the things that are