Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
conscience_n	david_n	heart_n	smite_v	1,341	5	9.6931	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09970	The golden scepter held forth to the humble VVith the Churches dignitie by her marriage. And the Churches dutie in her carriage. In three treatises. The former delivered in sundry sermons in Cambridge, for the weekely fasts, 1625. The two latter in Lincolnes Inne. By the late learned and reverend divine, Iohn Preston, Dr. in Divinity, chaplaine in ordinary to His Maiesty, Mr. of Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge, and somtime preacher at Lincolnes Inne.	Preston, John, 1587-1628.; Glover, George, b. ca. 1618, engraver.; Goodwin, Thomas, 1600-1680.; Ball, Thomas, 1589 or 90-1659.	1638 (1638)	STC 20227; ESTC S112474	187,142	312

one is desirous to heare evill spoken of his enemy that sinne is his greatest enemy therefore you could not have done David a better turne than Abigail and Nathan did to tell him of his fault or a worse to Amaziah and Ieroboam then the Prophets did when they reproved them hee that would have a building downe is glad of those that come with pickaxes but if hee would have it stand hee cannot endure any body that should offer to meddle with it so the strong holds of sinne being to be puld down a godly man likes him that will helpe him against them when conscience doubteth such a course is not good which yet is ambiguous If thou be loth to have it examined to the full it is a signe thou hast a false heart and art desirous to continue in it It is a sweet morsell to thee Io● 20. 12. when sin is kept as an ulcer which thou wilt not have a man come nigh to it is a signe thou lovest it and art not turned from it 2 There is a great difference in the ground and principle of a godly mans abandoning sinne and obeying the Law from that which is in an unregenerate man that is not truly turned though he may go farre in both for the upright hearted man hath not only some present checks and transient resolutions to leave sinne but there is a law stamped upon his mind whereby to resist the law of sinne for ever this law the other wants Rom. 7. 23. I see a law in my members warring against the law of my minde To a man truly converted there is a double law the outward written in Scripture the inward prin●ed in his heart which is able to guide him Therefore sayes the Apostle 1 Tim. 1. 8. The law was not given for the righteous that is it is not given to him as to others for others having no law in them must therefore be pressed only with that without but it is as it were needles to the other hee hath one in his minde continually opposing the law of sin Now because the explication of what this law of the minde is will exceedingly conduce to cleare this difference the more I will further shew what this law of the minde is It is an inward habit of holinesse agreeing with the Law of God as a picture with the prototype answering in every respect unto it And it is called a Law because it commands powerfully as a Law which hath authority in it effectually inclining and carrying the heart on to do what the Law without commands and on the contrary it doth forbid with efficacy and power the committing of sin and it hath this power in it because it is the very power vertue and fruit of the resurrection of Christ and is the immediate worke of the Spirit who is stronger than Satan the world and the flesh And likewise because as a law it rewardeth and punisheth refreshing the obedient with peace of conscience joy in the Holy Ghost and when a man disobeys it it causeth griefe and wounds the heart that law in David smote him when he had numbred the people and caused Peter to weep bitterly And in the second place it is called the law of the minde because though it sanctifies the whole yet it is most in the minde as the Law of the members is called so because in a regenerate man it is strongest in the members and least in the minde and will This law doth both enlighten the minde with saving operative knowledge of GOD and his Law and stampes all the habits of grace upon his will Iere. 32. 4. An unregenerate man may through his conscience enlightened give a stop to evill courses but without such a law as this This being thus explained the difference betweene a naturall conscience enlightened and this Law of the minde stands in these effects The first is taken from the phrase it self when it is called the law of the mind it having a differing worke upon the mind from that which the light of conscience hath for the knowledge this Law stampes upon the mind differs from that which is brought into the conscience of a naturall man Though an unregenerate man may first know the Law and 2. may consent to it that it is good yet a regenerate man that hath this law of the mind goes further and consents to it as good for him this is the meaning of that which the Apostle sayes verse 15. that hee consents to the Law that it is good and therefore it hath this same worke upon his minde as concerning also that hee allowes it not vers 16. that is not as good for him pro hic nunc This the other wants for want of light whereby the Holy Ghost convinceth a regenerate man that it is best for him to obey the Law at such and such times in all circumstences and when he comes to act it upon all occasions by answering all objections the other sees it good in it self but not for him in such and such circumstances An envious man first knowes what is good secondly consents that it is excellent but thirdly not that it is good for him and so also though an unregenerate man allowes sinne to be evill in it selfe yet not for him in such and such circumstances But then you will object it seemes then that the knowledge of a carnall man and a regenerate man differ but in degrees not in kind The want of degrees here alters the kind as in numbers the addition of a degree alters the species and kind This law of the mind puts a lusting into the soule against that which is evill and to that which is good Gal. 5. 17. So as he is not only stirred up to his duty by conscience but hee hath an inward inclination also thereunto and so for sin this law doth put a strong inclination into the faculties which doth not onely represse the outward acts but it weakens the habits of sinne by a contrary ingredient but the light of conscience though it may weaken the act yet not the habit So Gal. 5. 24. not onely the acts are restrained but the lusts are crucified the vigour of them is abated by a contrary lusting a lusting passeth through every faculty which weakens it Now nothing is weakened but by that which is contrary if the refore we look to repressing of outward acts therein they both agree and againe if wee looke to the abatement of a lust and no more we also may be deceived but if the habit of sinne bee weakened by a contrary lusting then it is from Grace and the law of the mind The difference is in the willingnesse to performe what is good and to abstaine from evill To will is present with me sayes the Apostle in that seventh Chapter another act of provokements of conscience may do what is good but to will it

in thee yet they have not that full effect they should for they overcome not that evill that is in thee for notwithstanding all these good things thou art still a Sabbath profaner a drunkard given to company I might goe over all other sins but in a word if they overcome not every sin they are nothing for the saving thee if they had beene effectuall in thee they would have driven out the darknesse all the good things thou hast availe not to thy salvation because they make thee not a good man yea all these good things and the good fits thou hast had will helpe forward thy condemnation because thou hast prophaned the truth in thy heart and hast not put fuell to these sparkes which God in mercy did put in that thou shouldest suffer such Talents as these to lie hid in a Napkin will he not say thou art an unprofitable servant A second thing that is to be added to the sight of your sinnes to humble you is to know that misery and vanity that is in your selves wee see by experience that men will grant that they are great sinners but what is the reason that yet notwithstanding they stand out They doe not know their owne misery and vanity and though wee have preached to men againe and againe their misery yet they are not stirred but when death comes then they are humbled and why but because then they see what God is and what themselves are death shewes them the vanity of the Creature so that the way to bee humbled is to know how unable a man is to bee happy within his owne compasse And to this end consider First the greatnesse of God and his power and the terrours of the Almighty that he is that God in whose hands is thy life and wayes and all and consider that unlesse thou seriously lay thy sinnes to heart this God is thy enemy and him with whom for ever thou hast to doe Consider what a weake creature thou art thinke with thy selfe a sicknesse may come on my body a crosse may come on my estate yea an apprehension of my soule that may sucke up the marrow of my bones and above all I have an immortall soule in a vessell of clay and thinke when that glasse that shell is broke what will become of that poore soule of thine And this would bring a man to the Prodigalls case Belshazzar saw this when hee saw the hand writing upon the wall Had it not beene wisedome in him to have seene and acknowledged it before Thou art well now thou doest not know what alterations may befall thee in the yeare and thou hadst better leave a thousand businesses undone than this And yet thirdly all this will not doe it except the spirit of God come on thee to humble a man is a mighty worke Though Eliah should preach to you yea all the sonnes of thunder should come yet without the spirit they will not be able to humble you yea God himselfe came downe from heaven upon Mount Sinai and with what terrours and yet the people remained unbroken though they were amazed for a time When Christ spake to S. Paul and strucke him off his horse if he had not had a light within as well as without hee had not beene humbled nor the Iaylor if there had not been an earthquake in his heart as well as in the earth Ieroboam had as great a miracle wrought before him as Saint Paul you may well thinke the drying up of his hand amazed him yet made him not give over his sinne and what was the reason there was a miracle in both but not the spirit and if wee did worke miracles before you from day to day yet unlesse God sent his spirit of bondage upon you you would not bee humbled See the necessity of the spirits helpe in admonitions also Amaziah was admonished by a Prophet as well as David by N. than yet hee was not humbled and so wee see some are humbled by afflictions and others not Therefore pray that God would send his Spirit to convince you and learne also not to be offended at us when in preaching the Law your consciences are troubled It is the spirit that troubleth you else our words would not trouble you and therefore bee not angry at us and therefore also doe not put off this duty of getting your hearts humbled for thou art not able so much as to humble thy self therefore take the opportunities of the spirit when he stirs thy heart But you will say this rather discourageth us from the worke for then wee must ever waite like marriners till the tide and the gale comes and I had as good sit still for I may goe about it to no purpose seeing the Lord must doe it I answer thee that if thou wouldest goe about it and shut up thy selfe in private a day and after that another in the end God would send his Spirit When Christ bad them goe and rowe though they rowed all night to little purpose yet CHRIST came at last and they were on the other side presently it may be thou mayest bee about it a moneth or two ere thou findest the Spirit comming yet hee will come in the end and then the worke wil be throughly done for God hath made a promise of the Holy Ghost that hee will baptize with the Holy Ghost as with fire not onely to his Disciples but those that yet never had it for it is not onely for increase but to begin grace Yea if God hath given thee a heart to pray to consider this promise so as thou hast taken up a resolution to waite and to set thy selfe to the worke when thou hast done so the spirit is already in thine heart the worke is begun though thou thinkest not so and never pleade thou canst not do it without the spirit for I aske thee this question didst thou ever commit a sinne in which thou couldest say I did it against my will was there ever any duty which thou hadst a thought to doe that thou couldest say thou couldest not doe it thy heart tells thee no. Therfore set about this duty which is the maine which therefore we have prest much because it is as a naile driven into a wall on which other graces hang. This and Faith are the great things which the master builders are occupied about and indeed the foundation which therefore above all you must looke to and these our exhortations should bee as forked Arrowes to sticke in you and not out againe and not as other Arrowes that wound onely We have done with the negative part That such as doe not humble themselves have no interest in the promises We come now to the affirmative part which is for comfort That if any man doth humble himselfe God will heare his prayer his sinnes shall be forgiven c. The Doctrine is this The Lord will be mercifull unto the humble I

that if you would remove the crosse you must remove the sinne first You may observe it in diseases that twenty medicines may bee used and yet if you hit not right upon the cause of the disease the patient is never the better but if that be removed the symptomes presently vanish so when some crosse is upon us wee set our heads and hands and friends aworke to remove it but all in vaine whilst wee hit not the cause and that is sinne which whilst it continues the crosse will continue The reason why our peace and prosperity is entertained with so many crosses and troubles is because our lives are interwoven with so many sinnes The cause of Gods unevennesse in his dispensations of his mercy towards thee is the unevennesse of thy carriage towards him Hast thou a healthfull body a sure estate many friends Thinke not that these shall secure thee see Adam in paradise Salomon in his glory David on his mountaine which hee thought made strong and you shall see Adam when sinne had made a breach upon him once quickly made miserable and sinne bringing in upon Salomon an army of troubles after it and upon David in the height sin bringing in upon him the hazzard of his kingdome the rebellion of his sonne sinne in a mans best estate makes him miserable and grace in the worst estate makes a man happy Saint Paul with a good conscience was happy in prison David through faith was happy at Ziglag But you will say how is it that calamities thus follow upon sinne wee feele no such thing and thus because it is deferred the hearts of men are set to doe evill All this is to bee understood with this caution that sinne when it is perfected brings forth death and not till then God stayed till Ahab had oppressed Naboth and gotten possession and then when he was seene God sends the message of death to him What hast thou killed and also taken possession Thus Iudas he was a thiefe whilst he kept the bag and went on in many sinnes in Christs family and Chri stlets him alone and he goes on till hee had betrayed his Master and then when his sinne was perfected and come to its full ripenesse then at last CHRIST comes with judgement upon him There is a certaine period of judgement and if the Lord stay execution till then thou hast little cause to comfort thy selfe Eccles. 8. 11 12. Because sentence against an evill worke is not speedily executed therefore the hearts of men are set to doe evill As if the wise man should have said Goe to you you that have peace and comfort your selves in this that whatsoever the Word and the Ministers threatten yet you feel nothing yet remember that as soon as the sin is committed the sentence goeth forth therefore he useth the word sentence to expresse this though it bee not so speedily executed yet it goes forth at the same time with the commission of the sinne The sentence you know is one thing the execution another and many times there is and so may be here a long distance betwixt the sentence of the Iudge and the execution of it So as his meaning is that execution is deferred Therefore flatter not your selves sentence is gone forth and execution will follow For the amplification of this that vision of Zachary seemes to make it good Zach. 5. When swearing and theft had beene committed Verse 3. Hee saw a flying roule Verse 2. Which Verse the 3. is interpreted to be the curse that goeth over all the earth for him that stealeth and sweareth Verse 3. which curse may bee upon the wing long ere it seizeth on the prey but it goes forth as soone as those sinnes were committed that is the execution may be deferred which is there further shewed in the parable of the Ephah which sets out as there the measure of the peoples iniquities for so Verse 8. he sayes this is wickednesse which untill it be filled hath not the weight of leade laid upon the mouth of it it being a long while ere God comes to execution and not till their sinnes are full the plummet of leade being laid as it signifies that then their sins are sealed up with the waight of leade rolled upon them that none might be lost or forgotten but God remembers them all and then hee saw two women come and the wind was in their wings Verse 9. that is when their sinnes are thus full and their measure sealed up their judgement comes swiftly like the winde and carries it into Shinar and there this wickednesse is set upon its owne base that is in its proper place a place of misery as hell is said to bee Iudas his owne place Sinne may sleepe a long time like a sleeping debt which is not call'd for and demanded for many yeares but if a man hath not an acquaintance the creditor may call for it in the end and lay the debtor in prison It was forty yeares after Sauls slaying of the Gibeonites ere execution went forth and vengeance was call'd for it So Ioabs sin which he committed in slaying Abner which was slaying innocent bloud slept all Davids time til Salomon came to the crowne Doe not therefore as ill husbands in debt that suffer the suite to runne on from tearme to tearme till they bee out-law'd and pay both debts and charges and all Thy sinnes are a bringing swift damnation and it slumbers not it is on foote already and will overtake thee and meete at thy journeyes end the end of thy dayes Let it therefore be thy wisedome to take up the suite and compound the matter with God betimes else thou shalt not onely pay the debt and smart for the sin it selfe but for all the time of Gods patience towards thee the riches of Gods patience spent and beare all the arrerages Rev. 2. I gave her space to repent but shee repented not God meant to make her pay for all the time he gave her to repent in The next point from these words is That if the calamity bee removed and the sinne bee not healed it is never removed in mercy but in judgement Hee doth here promise first to forgive the sinne and then to heale the Land so as if hee should have healed the Land without forgivenesse it had beene no mercy Because sinne is worse than any crosse whatsoever If therefore hee takes away the crosse and leaves the sinne behinde it is a signe thou art a man whom the Lord hates When a Physician takes away the medicine and leaves the disease uncured it is a signe the parties case is desperate or that the Physician meanes to let him perish Because the Lord doth nothing in vaine if therfore an affliction doth a man no good it must needes doe him hurt for that which doth neither good nor hurt must needes be in vaine That was a property of the Idols of the Heathens which are