bear it or could Spira bear it What 's the Torment of Hell but the Worm that dies not and what is that Worm but the remorse of Conscience Mark 9. 44. O what is that fearful Expectation mentioned Heb. 10. 27. see how you like that life described Deut. 28. 65 66. the primitive Christians chose rather to be cast to the Lyons than into the Paws of an enraged Conscience ad leones potius quam ad Lenones Every little trouble will be insupportable to a sick and wounded Conscience as a quart of water would be to your Shoulder in a great leaden Vessel O if men did but fear their own Consciences if they did reverence themselves as the Moralist speaks If they did herein Exercise themselves to have alwayes a Conscience void of offence as Paul did Acts 24. 16. Then would you be clear of this great Sin of holding the Truth in Unrighteousness III. Direction If you would escape the guilt and danger of holding Gods Truths in Unrighteousness then keep your Hearts under the awful sense of the Day of Judgment when every secret thing must come into Judgment and Conscience like a Register book is to be opened and examined The Consideration of that day gives your Consciences a sevenfold defensative against Sin. 1. It provokes every man to get real solid Grace and not rest in an empty Profession Matth. 25. and this secures us from formal Hypocrisie That we be not found foolish Virgins 2. It excites us to the diligent improvement of our Talents that we be not found slothful Servants neglecting any duty God and Conscience calls us to Matth. 25. 21. 3. It confirms and establishes us in the ways of God that we wound not Conscience by Apostacy 1 Ioh. 2. 28. 4. It s a loud call to every man to Repentance and not to lye stupid and senseless under guilt Acts 17. 30 31. 5. 'T is a powerful Antidote against formality in Religion the general and dangerous disease of Professors Matth. 7. 22 23. 6. It excites holy fear and watchfulness in the whole course of Life 1 Pet. 1. 17. 7. It puts us not only to our watch but to our knees in fervent Prayer 1 Pet. 4. 7. And he that feels such effects as these from the consideration of that Day is fortified against that sin my Text warns of and dares never hold the Truth of God in Unrighteousness 'T is our regardlessness of Judgement to come and ignorance of the Nature of it which so emboldens us to neglect known Duties and commit known Sins Amos 6. 3. 2 Pet. 3. 3 4. If our Thoughts and Meditations were engaged more frequently and seriously on such an aweful Subject you would rather chuse to dye than to do violence to your Consciences IV. Direction Get right and true apprehensions of the Moral Evil that is in sin and of the Paenal Evil that follows sin then no Temptation shall prevail with you to commit a sin to escape a present trouble or neglect a known duty to accommodate any earthly interest and consequently to hold no truth of God in unrighteousness 'T is fear of Loss and Sufferings that so often overbears Conscience but if men were once made throughly sensible that the least sin is worse for them than the greatest affliction or suffering the peace of Conscience would be well secured And that this is really so appears thus 1. Afflictions do not make a man vile in the Eyes of God. A Man may be under manifold Afflictions and yet very dear and precious in Gods Account Heb. 11. 36 37 38. but S in makes a man vile in the Eyes of God Dan. 11. 2. 2. Afflictions do not put men under the Curse of God Blessings and Afflictions may go together Psal. 94. 12. but Sin brings the Soul under the Curse Gal. 3. 10. 3. Afflictions make men more like unto God Heb. 12. 10. but Sin make us more like the Devil 1 Ioh. 3. 8. Ioh. 8. 34. 4. Afflictions for Conscience sake are but the Creatures wrath inflam'd against us but Sin is the inflamer of Gods Wrath against us as in the Text. 5. Afflictions are but outward Evils upon the Body but Sin is an internal Evil upon the Soul. Prov. 8. 36. 6. Afflictions for Duties sake have many sweet Promises annexed to them Matth. 5. 10. but Sin hath none 7. The effects of Sufferings for Christ are sweet to the Soul 2 Cor. 7. 4. but the fruits of Sin are bitter it yields nothing but shame and fear 8. Afflictions for Christ are the way to Heaven but Sin is the Road-way to Hell Rom. 6. ult 9. Sufferings for Duty are but for a Moment 2 Cor. 4. 17. but Sufferings for sin will be Eternal Mark 9. 44. If such thoughts might be suffered to dwell with us how would they guard the Conscience against Temptations and secure their Peace and Purity V. Direction Be throughly perswaded of this great Truth that God takes great pleasure in uprightness and will own and honour Integrity amidst all the dangers that befall it Psal. 11. 7. Prov. 11. 20. when he would encourage Abraham to a Life of Integrity he engages his Almighty power for the protection of him in that way Gen. 17. 1. I am God Almighty walk thou before me and be perfect So Psal. 84. 11. The Lord God is a Sun and a Shield he will give grace and glory and no good thing will be with-hold from them that walk uprightly An upright man is the boast of Heaven Iob 1. 8. He is Gods darling and the reason is because he bears the Image of God Psal. 11. 7. The upright Lord loveth uprightness Yea and if Integrity bring them into trouble they may be sure the Lord will bring them out Psal. 34. 19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivereth them out of all How safely then may they leave themselves in the hands of his infinite Wisdom Power and Fatherly Care Nay God is not only the Protector but he is also the Rewarder of Conscientious Integrity Psal. 18. 20. and that four ways 1. In the inward peace it yeilds them Isaiah 32. 17. The work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever But the effect of sinful shifts and carnal Policies are shame and sorrow 2. In the Success and Issue of it it not only turns to Gods glory but it answers and accommodates our own designs and ends far better than our sinful projects can do Prov. 28. 23. 3. Great is the Joy and Encouragement resulting from it in the day of Death 2 King 20. 3. Psal. 37. 37. 4. In the World to come Psal. 49. 14. Were this duely considered and throughly believed men would chuse rather to part with life than the purity and peace of their own Consciences They would suffer all wrongs and injuries rather than do Conscience the least injury VI. Direction Do not idolize the World nor overvalue the Trifles of
Honour than Gods. The Lord regards not Oratory in Prayer your broken Expressions yea your Groans and Sighs please him more than all the Eloquence in the VVorld Thirdly But the principal thing that restrains Men from obeying their Convictions as to Family and Closet Prayer is A disinclined Heart That 's the root and true cause of these sinful neglects and Omissions You favour not the sweetness of these things and what a man relishes no sweetness in or finds no necessity of is easily omitted and let pass But wo to you that go from day to day self condemned for the neglect of so known so sweet and so necessary a Duty If our Hearts condemn us God is greater than our hearts I Ioh. 3. 20. He that lives without Prayer is dead whilst he lives and let men talk what they please of secret Communion with God I am sure if Religion did thrive in the Closet it could never be banished out of the Family The time is coming also when death will disband and break up your Families separate the VVife from the Husband the Child from the Parent the Servant from the Master and then where you shall find relief and comfort who have spent your time together so sinfully and vainly I cannot tell nor what account you can give to God in the great day Think sadly on these things they are worth thinking on II. Instance A second Instance of Vngodliness continued in under the Convictions of Conscience is Formaliâ—y in all the external duties of Religion and Ordinances of God. Have not some of your Consciences often and plainly told you that though you be often ingaged in the publick duties of Hearing Prayer c. yet your hearts are not with God in those duties They do not work after communion and fellowship with him therein 'T is nothing but the force of Education Custom and care of Reputation brings you there Such a conviction as this could it work home and do its work throughly would be the salvation of thy Soul. Were power added to the form as Conscience would have it thou wert then a real Christian and out of the danger of Hell. The want of this thy Conscience sees will be thy ruin and accordingly gives thee plain warning of it O what pity is it such a conviction as this should be held in Unrighteousness but so it is in very many souls and that on several accounts First Because Hypocrisie is so odious and abominable a sin that men are loath to own and acknowledge it how guilty so ever they be of it What dissemble with God and play the Hypocrite with him 't is so black and foul a Crime that men cannot easily be brought to charge themselves with it They may have the infirmities which are common to the best of men but yet they are no hypocrites thus Pride of Heart casts a chain upon this conviction and binds it that it cannot do its work Secondly 'T is a cheap and easie way to give God the external Service and Worship of the Body but Heart-work is hard work To sit or kneel an hour or two is no great matter but to search humble and break the Heart for sin to work up the dead and earthly Affections into a spiritual heavenly frame this will cost many an hard tugg 'T is no severe task to sit before God as his people whilst the fancy and thoughts are left at liberty to wander which way they please as the thoughts of formal Hypocrites use to do Ezek. 33. 31. but to set a watch upon the heart to summon in the Thoughts to God to retract every wandering thought with a sigh this is difficult and the difficulty overpowers conviction of duty Thirdly The Atheisme of the heart quenches this conviction in mens Souls Formality is a secret invisible sin not discernable by man the outside of Religion looks fair to mans eye and so long it s well enough as if there were not a God that trieth the hearts and the reins This when a beam of light and conviction shines into the Soul a cloud of natural Atheism overshaddows and darkens it But poor self-couzening-hypocrite these things must not pass so thy Conscience as well as the Word tell thee that it is not the place of Worship but the spirituality of it that God regards Ioh. 4. 23 24. That they are Hypocrites in Scripture account who have God in their mouthes but he is far from their reins Ier. 12. 2. and that hypocrites will have the hottest place in Hell Matth. 24. 51. III. Instance A Third instance of Convictions of ungodliness held in unrighteousness is in declining or denying to consfess the known truths of God which we our selves have professed when the confession of them infers danger In times of danger conscience struggles hard with men to appear for the Truths of God and upon no account whatsoever to dissemble or deny them and enforceth its Counsels and VVarnings upon us with such awful Scriptures as these Luk. 9. 62. No man having put his hand to the plough and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. And Matth. 10. 33. But whosoever shall deny me before men him will I also deny before my father which is in heaven In this case Conscience useth to struggle hard with men yet is many times over-born by the prevalent Temptations of the Flesh as First By Carnal Fears The fear of Suffering gets the ascendant of the fear of God. Men chuse rather to adventure their Souls upon Wrath to come than the present VVrath of incensed Enemies They vainly hope to find mercy with God but expect none from men Thus the fear of man brings a snare Prov. 29. 25. and so the voice of conscience is drowned by the louder clamours and threats of Adversaries Secondly As the fear of mans Threatenings so the distrust of Gods Promises defeats the design of Conscience If men believed the promises they would never be afraid of their duties Faith in a promise would make men as bold as Lions If such a word as that Isa. 57. 11. Of whom hast thou been afraid or feared that thou hast lyed and hast not remembred me Men would say as Zuinglius did in the like case what Death would I not rather chuse to dye what punishment would I not rather undergo yea into what vault of Hell would I not rather chuse to be cast than to witness against my own conscience Thirdly The immoderate and inordinate Love of the VVorld overpowers conscience and drowns its voice in such an hour of Temptation So Demas found it 2 Tim. 4. 10. O what a dangerous conflict is there in an hour of Temptation betwixt an enlightned head and a worldly heart Lastly The Examples of others who comply and embrace the sinful termes of Liberty to escape the danger emboldens men to follow their Examples and Satan will not be wanting to improve their Examples Don't you see such and such men beating the road before you
the Word shall come whom by the Spirits particular application like that of Nathans to David Thou art the Man then all the powers of the Soul are rouzed and allarmed now it pierces as a two-edged Sword Heb. 4. 12. divides the Soul and Spirit the superiour and inferiour Faculties of it Cuts down by the back-bone lays open the secret guilt and innermost thoughts of a Man's Heart before which the sinner cannot stand The secrets of his Heart are made manifest and falling down on his Face he must acknowledg that God is in the Word of a Truth 1 Cor. 14. 24. O these convictions of the Word are such a rap such a knock at the door of the Conscience as will never be forgotten no not in Heaven to all Eternity 2ly Christ knocks in the Word by its terrible comminations and awful threatnings menacing the Soul that opens not with eternal ruine these are dreadful knocks O sinner saith Christ wilt thou not open Shall all the tenders of my Grace made to thee be in vain Know then that this thy obstinacy shall be thy damnation Thus the Word denounces ruine in the name of the great and terrible God to all wilful impenitents and obstinate unbelievers Iohn 3. 36. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath ef God abideth on him O dreadful sound like unto which is that Iohn 8. 24. If ye believe not that I am he ye shall dye in your sins q. d. Thy Mittimuâ— for Hell shall be made and signed will you not come to me that you might have life then I will foretel what death you shall dye you shall even dye in your sins Oh it were better for thee to dye like a Dog in a ditch than to dye in thy sins These are loud knocks of the Word terrible sounds yet no more than needs to startle the drousie Consciences of sinners And then 3ly The Spirit knocks by the gracious invitations of the Word the sweet allurements and gracious insinuations of it and without this no Heart would ever open to Christ. It is not frost and snow storms and thunder but the gentle distilling dews and cherishing Sun-beams that make the flowers open in the Spring The terrors of the Law may be preparative but the grace of the Gospel is that which effectually opens the sinners Heart The obdurate flint will sooner fly when smitten upon the soft pillow than upon the anvil Now the Gospel abounds with alluring invitations to draw the Will and open the Heart of a sinner such is that Matth. 11. 28. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest O what a charming voice is here He that considers it may well wonder what Heart in the World can resist it like unto this is that in Isa. 55. 1. Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters and he that hath no money let him come yea let him come and buy Wine and Milk without money and without price q. d. Come sinner come though thou have no qualifications no worthiness nor righteousness of thy own though thou be but a heap of sin and vileness yet come my grace is a gift not a sale and such is that in Iohn 7. 37. In the last day the great day of the feast Iesus stood up and cried If any Man thirst let him come to me and drink q. d. My grace is no sealed Fountain 't is free and open to the greatest of sinners if they thirst they are invited to come and drink This is that Oyl of Gospel grace which makes the Key turn so pleasantly and effectually amongst all the cross wards of Man's Will. And thus you see how the Word preached becomes an instrument in the Spirit 's Hand to open the door of a sinners Heart at which it knocks by its mighty Convictions dreadful Threats and gracious Invitations Secondly We next come to the Second Hammer by which the Spirit knocks at the sinners Heart and that is the providential Works of God. These in subserviency to the Word are of excellent use to awaken sinners and make them open their Hearts to Christ. God hath magnified his Word above all his Name yet there are some of the providential Works of God greatly serviceable in this case the Word sanctifies Providences and Providences assist the Word and make it work Now there are two sorts of Providential Dispensations which the Lord Jesus makes use of to gain entrance for him into the Hearts of Men. Viz. 1. Judgments 2. Mercies 1. Judgments and Afflictions the Word of God many times works not till some stroak of God come to quicken and assist it thus did the Lord open the Heart of that Monster of wickedness Manasseh the Word would not work alone but a smart rod quickned its operation 2 Chron. 33. 10 11 12. And the Lord spake to Manasseh and to his people but they would not hearken Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the Captains of the host of the King of Assyria which took Manasseh among the thorns and bound him with fetters and carried him to Babylon And when he was in affliction he besought the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his Fathers Thus the Heart of this Man relented under the Word assisted by the Rod. Ah 't is good that God take such a course with some sinners else the Word would do them no good and to this purpose is that in Iob 36. 8 9 10. And if they be bound in fetters and holden in cords of affliction then he sheweth them their work and their transgression that they have exceeded and openeth their Ears to discipline This is that rough course the obstinacy of Men's Hearts makes necessary for their recovery and therefore it is very observable that some words of God have lain dead in some sinners Hearts for years together and at last have begun to work under some smart and close Rod. Alas while all things are pleasant and prosperous about us the Word hath but little operation and effect Ier. 22. 21 22. I spake unto thee in thy prosperity but thou saidst I will not hear this hath been thy manner from thy youth that thou obeyedst not my voice The wind shall eat up all thy pastures and thy lovers shall go into captivity surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness q. d. Your Eyes are so dazled with the beautiful Flowers and your Ears so charmed with the Syren Songs and Lullabies of earthly delights that my Word can take no place upon you Let an East-wind blow and wither up these Flowers then the Word shall work and Conscience rescent the concernments of Eternity this course God is feign to take with many of you here you sit from Sabbath to Sabbath under the Word and nothing takes place upon your Hearts Will you not hear the voice of my VVord go Death saith God and smite that Man's Child dead I
knock and no opening and these things are very common especially among the unconverted that live under a lively Gospel rouzing Ministry of this Christ complains Matth. 11. 16 17. Whereunto shall I liken this generation They are like unto Children sitting in the market-place and calling to their fellows saying We have piped unto you and you have not daunced We have mourned unto you but you have not lamented q. d. Neither the delicious airs and melody of Gospel grace nor the mournful and dreadful threats of damnation to unbelievers avail any thing to open your Hearts to embrace me no voices from mount Gerezim or mount Ebal will prevail with you Ah how many sad witnesses unto this truth have I now before mine Eyes But God forbid it should be thus all round No no there be some Souls who hear and open even every one that hath heard and learned of the Father Iohn 6. 45. When the Spirit of God puts forth his Power with the Word then and not till then it becomes successful 4ly Sometimes Christ knocks with a thick succession of Convictions a quick repetition of his calls Some men have had thousands of Convictions in a few years for in this case the Lord saith as it is Exod. 4. 8. If they will not harken to the voice of the first sign yet they may believe the voice of the latter sign And yet sometimes neither the former nor the latter avail any thing How oft would I have gathered thy Children and ye woul not Matth. 23. 37. How often Intimating the many calls Christ gave Ierusalem to come unto him yet all in vain Obstinate sinners Christ hath been knocking and calling at some of your Consciences from your very Child-hood thousands of Convictions have been tryed upon some of you and yet to this day your Souls are shut fast against him The Lord hath waited from year to year for your answer by this signifying how loath he is to part with you such a time thou wast upon a sick-bed nigh unto Death at such a time under such a Sermon and then Christ knockt at thy Soul if all this be in vain so many Convictions as you have stifled so many fagots you carry with you to Hell to increase your flames and torments yet commonly those quick repetitions and redoublings of the stroaks of Convictions end well and it is a good sign when one Conviction revives another and the Lord keeps the Soul still waking But O take heed and try not his Patience too long lest the next stroak be more dreadful than all the former not to open your Hearts but smite dead your hopes for Heaven 5ly Sometimes Christ knocks intermittingly knocking and stopping a call and silence and that at a considerable time and distance a conviction this day and it may be not another in many Months There be some aged sinners that have not had more than one or two remarkable rouzings of Conscience in fifty or sixty years time and then no more Dont think that the Lord will make his Spirit always strive with Men Gen 6. 3. no there is a time when God saith to the Word convict the Conscience of that Man or Woman no more not a stroak more by way of Conviction but henceforth be thou for Obduration not to open but to shut him up Isa. 6. 10. Reader bethink thy self how long was it since thy Conscience was rouzed and awakened O saith one seven or ten years ago I heard such a Sermon which tore my Conscience to pieces I fell under such a sad providence which rouzed and awakened all my fears but since that time all hath been still and quiet the Lord give a second awakning lest you awake with the flames of God's wrath about you I observe it is usual when God works upon any very early he knocks thus intermittingly now the Conscience is active and full of trouble then the vanities of Youth extinguish these Convictions again but the Lord follows his design and at last the Conviction settles and ends in Conversion 6ly Christ sometimes knocks with both Hands at once with the Word and with the Rod together the latter in subserviency to the former and if ever the Soul be like to open it will open then when Ordinances and Afflictions work together The Word smites the Conscience with Conviction and at or about the same time providence smites the outward-man with some affliction to make the Word work effectually or under some smart affliction a suitable word is seasonably directed to the Conscience and thus Iuncta Iuvant the one assisteth the other and both together produce the desired effect Thus the Lord wrought upon the Thessalonians 1 Thes. 1. 6. And ye became followers of us and of the Lord having received the Word in much affliction A Child dies an Estate is lost or a Sickness seizeth at the time when Conscience is prepared by a Conviction from the Word or Afflictions have prepared it for the Word The Rod upon the Back helps the Word to work upon the Heart and if both these working in fellowship will not do the work there is little hope that any thing will do it 7ly Every knock of Christ disturbs the sinful rest of the Soul it rouzeth guilt in the Conscience and puts the inner-man into great distress and trouble before Christ comes and knocks at the door of the Heart all is still and quiet within the Soul is in a quiet sleep of sinful security no fears or troubles molest its rest Luke 11. 21. When a strongman armed keepeth his Palace his goods are in peace But when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted The armour which Satan puts into the Hands of sinners to defend themselves against the Convictive stroaks of the Word are the general Mercy of God the outward Duties of Religion partial Reformations c. But when Christ comes by effectual Conviction he disarms the sinner of all these pleas and then the Soul sees what broken Reeds it leaned upon When the Commandment came saith Paul sin revived and I dyed Rom. 7. 9. i. e. all my vain hopes expired no artifice of Satan can any longer quiet the sinners Conscience he apprehends himself in a miserable condition meditates an escape farewel now to sound and quiet sleep no peace till out of danger 8ly Every effectual knock of Christ gives an allarm to Hell and puts Satan to all his shifts and arts to secure the possession of the convinced sinner The Devil is a jealous Spirit and when his interest is in danger he bestirs himself to purpose the time of Conviction is an hour of temptation We wrestle not with flesh and blood saith the Apostle but against Principalities against Powers against the Rulers of the darkness of this World against Spiritual wickedness or wicked Spirits in high-places or about heavenlies Eph. 6. 12. The strife betwixt Satan and the Soul is
is a standing mercy never to be recall'd vacated or annulled Rom. 8. 33 34 35. The challenge is sent to Hell and Earth Men and Devils Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect 'T is God that justifies who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died c. Who can arrest when the Creditor dischargeth Who can sue the bond when the debt is paid 'T is Christ that died The Table is spread and the first mercy served in is the pardon of sin Eat O friends drink yea drink abundantly O beloved Now the labouring Conscience that rowled and tossed upon the waves of a thousand fears may drop Anchor and ride quiet in the pacifique Sea of a pardoned State. What joy must stream through the Conscience when the sweetness of that Scripture Rom. 8. 1. shall be pressed into thy cup of Consolation The pardoned Soul may speak and think of Death and Judgment without consternation yea may look upon it as a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord Acts 3. 19. This is heavenly Manna the sweetness of it swallows up all expression all conceptions no words no thoughts can comprehend the riches of this mercy II. And yet this is not all behold another mercy in consequence unto this brought in to refresh and cheer the consenting Soul and that is peace with God. Pardon and peace go together Rom. 5. 1. Being justified by faith we have peace with God. Peace is a word of a vast comprehension peace in the language of the Old Testament comprehends all Temporal good things 1 Sam. 25. 6. And peace in the New Testament comprehends all Spiritual mercies 2 Thes. 3. 16. the blessings of Heaven and Earth are wrapt up in this word The Soul that opens to Christ hath peace of reconciliation in Heaven the enmity that was betwixt God and that Soul is taken away through the blood of Christ Isa. 12. 1 2. O Lord I will praise thee though thou wast angry with me thine anger is turned away and thou comfortest me This must be an invaluable mercy for the purchase of it cost the blood of Christ Isa. 53. 5. The chastisement of our peace was upon him He made peace by the blood of his Cross Col. 1. 20. and this peace of reconciliation is setled by Christ upon a firm foundation His blood gives it a more firm and steady basis and foundation than that of the Hills and Mountains Isa. 54. 10. And that which makes it so firm and sure is the Advocateship of Jesus Christ in Heaven 1 Iohn 2. 1. 2. If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father There is also peace in the believers Conscience peace as it were by Proclamation from Heaven and this is built upon the peace of Reconciliation We cannot have the the sense of peace till we are brought into a state of peace the latter is the result of the former And this is a special part of that supper Christ provides to entertain the Soul that receives it How sweet this is is better felt than spoken A dreadful sound was lately in the Ears of the Law-condemned sinner but now his Heart is the seat of peace And this peace is 1. the Souls gard against all inward and outward terrors Phil. 4. 7. The peace of God shall keep 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as the word is guard your hearts and minds The persons of Princes are secured by guards of armed and valiant Men who watch while they sleep Thus Solomon had his royal guard because of fear in the night Cant. 3. 7 8. This peace of God Christian is thy life-guard and secures thee better than Solomons threescore valiant men that were about him Time was when thou wast affraid to sleep for fear thou shouldst awake in Hell Now thou maist say with David I will both lay me down and sleep for thou Lord makest me to dwell in safety Now come life come death the Soul is safe the peace of God is its royal guard 2. This peace is ease as well as safety to the Soul 'T is heart-ease no sooner doth God speak peace to the Conscience but the Soul finds it self at ease and rest Heb. 4. 3. We which have believed do enter into rest It is with such a Soul as it was with the Dove Noah sent out of the Ark that poor creature wandred in the Air as long as her wings could carry her had her strength fail'd there was nothing but the waters to receive her O how sweet was rest in the Ark 3. This peace is news from Heaven and the sweetest tydings that ever blest the sinners Ear next unto Christ Heb. 12. 24. The blood of Christ speaketh better things than that of Abel And you are come to this blood of sprinkling the same day and hour that Christ is come into your Souls This is the voice of that blood Thou hast sinned I have satisfied Thou hast kindled the wrath of God And I have quencht it The Angels of Heaven cannot feed higher their joys are not more delicious than those prepared for believers are whereof this is a foretast whatever circumstances of trouble a man be in this effectually relieves him Paul and Silas were in sad circumstances shut up in the inner-prison their feet made fast in the stocks their cruel keeper at the door their execution designed in a few days God did but set this dish upon the Table before the prisoners and they could not forbear to sing at the feast Acts 16. 25. At midnight they sang c. III. After these two royal dishes Pardon and Peace a third will come in viz. Ioy in the Holy Ghost this is somewhat beyond peace 't is the very quintessence and Spirit of all Consolation The Kingdom of God is said to consist in it Rom. 14. 17. 't is somewhat near to the joy of the glorified 1 Pet. 1. 8. 't is Heaven upon Earth All believers do not immediately attain it but one time or other God usually gives them a taste of it and when he doth it is as it were a short Salvation O who can tell what that is which the Apostle calls The shedding abroad of the love of God into the Heart by the Holy Ghost which is given to us Rom. 5. 5. It is a joy which wants an Epithet to express the sweetness of it 1 Pet. 1. 8. Ioy unspeakable and full of glory It hath the very scent and taste of Heaven in it and there is but a gradual difference betwixt it and the joy of Heaven This joy of the Holy Ghost is a spiritual cheeriness streaming through the Soul of a believer upon the Spirits testimony which clears his interest in Christ and glory No sooner doth the Spirit shed forth the love of God into the believers Heart but it streams and overflows with joy Joy is no more under that Souls command and this will evidently appear if you consider the matter of it it arises from the light of
18 19. yet the fear of Coesar hurries him on to the greatest of wickednesses even to give Sentence against Innocent Blood yea the Blood of the Son of God. Darius in like manner Dan. 6. 14. He knew that Daniel was not only an excellent Person but that he was entrapt by the Nobles merely for his Conscience and that to put him to Death was to sacrifice him to their Malice this he and his Conscience debated all the day many encounters he had with it for the Text saith He was sore displeased with himself and set his Heart on Daniel to deliver him and laboured until the going down of the Sun to deliver him but after a days sharp fight betwixt him and his Conscience Lust prevails at last against Light and returns Victor out of the Field in the Evening So it was with poor Spira he seemed to hear as it were an inward Voice Don't write Spira don't write but the love of his Estate Wife and Children drew his Hand to the Paper though Conscience struggled hard to hold it back Thus as the restless Sea strives to beat down or break over its bounds so do impetuous Lusts strive to overbear Light and Conviction video meliora proboque deteriora sequor They know this or that to be a Sin and that they hazard their Souls by it but yet they will adventure on it and rush into Sin as the Horse into the Battle 4. I promised to give you some instances of the Conflicts betwixt Mens Consciences and their Corruptions wherein Conscience is vanquisht and overborn and by what Weapons the Victory over Conscience is obtained Now the Convictions of Men are two-fold viz. I. General Respecting their State. II. Particular Respecting this or that Action I. There are general Convictions and Notices given to some Men and Women by their Consciences that their Condition or State of Soul is neither right nor safe that they want the main thing which constitutes a Christian viz. Regeneration or a gracious change of Heart and Life They hear and read the signs and effects of these things but their Conscience plainly tells them it cannot find them in them that they enjoy the External priviledges of the Saints but they belong not to them that something is still wanting and that the main thing too O my Soul thou art not right thou hast gifts thou hast a Name to live but for all that thou art dead Some further work must be done upon thee or thou art undone to Eternity thou passest for a good Christian among Men but wo to thee if thou die in the State thou art These and such as these are the whispers of some Mens Consciences in their Ears and yet they cannot yield themselves up into the hands of their Convictions so as to confess and bewail their Hypocrisie and gross mistakes and seek for a better foundation to build their hope on Foelix his Conscience gave him such a terrible rouze and monition as this and made him to tremble whilst Paul reason'd with him about Righteousness and Temperance and Judgment to come Acts 24. 25. it whispered in his Ear such Language as this O poor Soul how shall such an Oppressor such an intemperate wretch as thou art stand before God in this day of Judgment which Paul proves in thy face is certainly future for as Tacitus sayeth of him He was inexplebilis Gurges an insatiable gulph of Covetousness so it was with Agrippa Acts 26. 28. He stood at half bent dubious and unresolved what to do He saw the Heavenly Doctrine of Christianity evidently confirmed by Doctrine and Miracles his Conscience pleaded hard with him to embrance it and had almost prevailed Almost or within a little as the word is thou perswadest me to be a Christian but Agrippa had too much Wealth and Honours to deny and forsake for Christ the Love of the present World overbore both the hopes and fears of the World to come And thus that Excellent Fisher for Souls who had throughly converted so many to Christ caught but a piece of Agrippa almost is a great deal for so great a person The Gospel is a Drag-net and brings up all sorts whole Christians and half Christians The Conscience is caught and the Will begins to incline but oh the power and prevalence of Sin which like the Rudder commands all to a contrary course If we come a little nearer and enquire what are those remoraes that stop Conscience in its course bind and imprison stifle and suppress its Convictions that although a Man strongly suspect his foundation to be but Sand his hopes for Heaven a strong delusion yet he will throw up his vain hopes consfess his self deceits and begin all anew What is it which overbears Conscience in this cafe Let Men impartially examine their hearts and it will be found that these three things bind and imprison these Convictions of Conscience and hold the truth in unrighteousness viz. shame fear and pride of Heart I. Shame Men that have been Professors and of good esteem in the World are ashamed the World should know the Mistakes and Errors of all their life past and what deluded Fools and self-deceivers they have been This is a powerful restraint upon Conviction how shall they look their Acquaintance in the face What will Men think and say of them How can ye believe which receive Honour one of another Saith Christ Iohn 5. 44. q. d. What you be Christians and yet not able to endure a censure or a scoff upon your Names That stand more upon your Reputation than your Salvation How can you believe Oh what Madness and exalted Folly appears in this Case Men will chuse rather to go on though Conscience tells them the end of that way will be Death than suffer the shame of a just and necessary retraction which yet indeed is not their shame but their Duty and Glory You that are so tender of the shame of men how will you be able to endure the contempt and shame that shall be cast on you from God Angels and Men in the great Day Luk 9 26. 'T is no shame to acknowledge your mistake but persist in it after Conviction is shameful Madness I knew an excellent Minister who proved an eminent Instrument in the Church of God who in the beginning of his Ministerial Course was not upon the right Foundation of Regeneration This Man had rare Abilities excellent Natural and Acquired Gifts and could Preach of Regeneration Faith and Heavenly-mindedness though he felt nothing of these things in his own Experience His Life was very unblameable and he had no mean Interest and esteem among good men It pleased the Lord whilst this Man was studying an excellent Spiritual Point to preach to others his Conscience first preach'd it in his Study to himself and that with such a close and rousing Application as made him to tremble at it telling him that though he had Gifts above many and sobriety in his Conversation
Learned Men and prudent men who it may be have less heat but more VVisdom than you VVhy will you be singular VVhy will you hazzard all for that others will hazzard nothing But certainly such sins as these will cost you dear 't is a dreadful thing to betray the Truths and Honour of God for base secular ends and you will find it so when you and your consciences shall debate it together in a calm hour Secondly There are also sins of Vnrighteousness against the Second Table in which many live against the plain dictates and warnings of their own Consciences though they know the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all unrighteousness of men who hold the Truth in unrighteousness To give some Instances of this I. Instance And first let me Instance in that sin of Defrauding and going beyond others in our civil Commerce and Dealings with them over-reaching cozening and cheating the ignorant or unwary who it may be would not be so unwary as they are did they not repose trust and confidence in your deceitful words and promises Conscience cannot but startle at such sins the very Light of Nature discovers the evil of it and the sober Heathen abhor it but we that live under the Gospel cannot but feel some terror and trembling in our Consciences when we read such a severe and awful prohibition back'd with such a dreadful threatening as that is in 1 Thes. 4. 6. That no man defraud or go beyond his brother in any matter because that the Lord is the Avenger of all such The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that no man overtop viz. by power or by craft and policy To this sin a dreadful threatening is annexed the Lord is the Avenger of all such The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but once more that I remember used in the New Testament Rom. 13. 4. and is there applied to the Civil Magistrate he must see Execution done upon Malefactors but here the Lord himself will do it he will be this mans Avenger This Rod or rather this Ax Conscience shews men and gives warning of the danger and yet its Convictions are overpowered and bound as Prisoners by 1. The Excessive Love of Gain 1 Tim. 6. 9. But they that will be rich fall into Temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful Lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition When a resolution is made for the world men will be rich by right or wrong this powerfully armes the Temptation Set Gain before such a man and he will break through the Law of God and convictions of Conscience but he will have it This drowns them in perdition and destruction that is it surely throughly and fully ruins them as he is a dead man that is only drowned but to be drowned in destruction yea in destruction and perdition too this must needs make his ruin sure as sure as words can make it and so all such persons shall surely find it who persist in such a Course 2. Pinching Necessities and Straights overbear Conscience in others Necessity hath no Ears to attend the voice of the Word and Conscience Here Conscience and Poverty struggle together and if the Fear of God be not exalted in the Soul it now falls a prey to Temptation This danger wise Agur foresaw and earnestly intreated the Lord for a competency to avoid the snare of Poverty Prov. 30. 8 9. Poor Wretch how much better were it for thee to endure the pains of a griping stomach than those of a griping Conscience such gains may be sweet in thy mouth but bitter in thy Bowels 3. The Examples of others who daily venture on such sins without scruple and laugh at such squeamish Consciences as cheque at such things this emboldens others to follow them Psal. 50. 18 and thus the voice of Conscience is drowned and Convictions buried for a time but it will Thunder at last and thy buried convictions wil have a Resurrection and it shall be out of thy power to silence them again II. Instance The truth of God is held in Unrighteousness when mens Lusts will not suffer them to restore what they have sinfully and unjustly gotten into their hands This Sin lies boking in the Consciences of some men makes them very uneasie and yet they make an hard shift to rub along under these regrets of Conscience Now those things which make a forcible entry into the Conscience take the truths of God Prisoners and bind them that they cannot break forth into the duty of Restitution are 1. The shame which attends and follows the duty to which God and Conscience calls the Soul. O 't is a shame and reproach they think to get the name of a cheat Loath loath they are these works of darkness should come into the open Light men will point and hiss at them and say there goes a Thief a Cheat an Oppressor this keeps many from Restitution But dost thou not here commit a greater Cheat than the former Which is the greater shame thinkst thou to commit sin or to confess and reform it to tye the snare upon thy soul by Commission or loose it off from thy Conscience by Repentance and Restitution to be the derision of wicked men for none else will deride thee for thy duty or to be the contempt and derision of God Angels and all good Men for ever To attain inward peace at this hazzard or to lie under the continual lashes and wounds of thy own Conscience 2. Poverty and inability is sometimes pleaded to quiet the troubled Conscience and indeed this is a just and very frequent blast of God upon ill gotten goods The curse of God is upon them They melt away O what a miserable snare have you now intangled your souls in once you could but would not restore a Worldly heart would not part with unjust gains now you would but cannot Thus a worldly heart and an empty purse holds you first and last under the guilt of a known sin A lamentable case 3. Vain purposes do often suppress and silence convictions my condition may after I may be in a capacity hereafter when I can better spare it than at present Or I 'le do it in my last Will when I dye and charge my Executors with it Thus do men bribe their Consciences to get a little quiet whilst they continue under known guilt and cannot tell how soon death shall summon them to the aweful Bar of a just and terrible God. Sirs As you value your peace and which is more your Souls release the Lords Prisoner which lyes bound within you with cords and chains of Satans making do it I say as you hope to see the face of God in peace You know without Repentance there can be no Salvation and without Restitution no Repentance For how can you repent of a sin you still knowingly continue in Repentance is the Souls turning from sin as well as its sorrow for sin You cannot therefore repent
to spend our blood for the Saints So it was in the primitive times Behold â—said the Christians Enemies how they love one another and are willing to dye one for another But that Spirit is almost extinguished in these degenerate dayes VI. Instance How many stand convinced by their own Consciences what a sin it is to spend their precious time so idly and vainly as they do When a day is lost in vanity duties neglected no good done or received at night Conscience reckons with them for it and askes them what account they can give of that day to God. How they are able to satisfie themselves to lye down and sleep under so much guilt and yet when the morrow comes the vanity of their hearts carries them on in the same Course again the next day and whilst they keep themselves in vain Company they are quiet till Conscience finds them at leisure to debate it again with them Now the things which master Conviction are 1. In some men their Ignorance and Insensibility of the Preciousness of time They know 't is their sin to spend their time so vainly but little consider that Eternity it self hangs upon this little Moment of Time and that the great work of their Salvation will require all the time they have and if it be not finished in this small allottment of time it can never be finished Ioh. 9. 4. 2. The Examples of other vain persons that are as Prodigal of their precious time as themselves and entice them to spend it as they do 3. The charming power of sensual Lusts and Pleasures Oh how pleasantly doth time slide away in Playes Alehouses in relating or hearing taking Stories News c. 4. Inconsiderateness of the sharp and terrible rebukes of Conscience for this on a Death-bed or the terrors of the Lord in the day of Judgment In all these Instances you see how common this dreadful evil of holding the truth in unrighteousness is yet these are but a few selected from among many 5. In the next place I am obliged to shew how and why the imprisoning of Convictions or holding the Truths of God in Unrighteousness so dreadfully incenseth his Wrath. And this it doth upon several accounts 1. Knowledge and Conviction of sin is an excellent means or choice help to preserve Men from falling into sin There be Thousands of sins committed in the World which had never been committed if Men had known them to be sins before they committed them Every Sinner durst not make so bold with his Conscience as you have done The Apostle tells us the reason why the Princes of this World crucified the Lord of Glory was because they knew him not 1 Cor. 2. 8. Had they known him they would not have dared to do as they did And so it is in multitudes of lower and lesser sins than that Satan mops their Eyes with Ignorance then uses their Hands and Tongues in Wickedness he is the Ruler of the darkness of the World Eph. 6. 12. But when Men do know this or that to be sin and yet venture on it here an excellent Antidote against sin is turned into a dreadful aggravation of sin which highly incenses the Wrath of God. 2. Knowledge and Conviction going before adds presumption to the Sin that follows after it and presumptuous Sin is the most provoking and daring Sin from this way of sinning David earnestly beseeches God to keep him Keep back thy servant saith he from presumptuous sins When a man sees sin and yet adventures on it in such sinning there is a despising of the Law of God A Man may break the Law whilst he approves reverences and honours it in his heart Rom. 7. 12 13. but here the Commandment is despised as God told David 2 Sam. 12. 9. 'T is as if a Man should say I see the Command of God armed with threatnings in my way but yet I will go on for all that 3. Knowledge and Conviction leave the Conscience of a Sinner naked and wholly without excuse or apologie for his sin In this case there is no plea left to extenuate the offence Iohn 15. 22. Now they have no cloak for their sin if a man sins ignorantly his ignorance is some excuse for his sin it excuses it at least a tanto as Paul tells us thus and thus I did but I did it ignorantly Here is cloak or covering an excuse or extenuation of the sin but knowledge takes away this cloak and makes the sin appear naked in all the odious deformity of it nothing left to hide it 4. Light or Knowledge of the Law and Will of God is a very choice and excellent Mercy 't is a choice and singular favour for God to make the light of Knowledge to shine into a Mans mind or understanding 'T is a Mercy withheld from multitudes Psal. 147. 19. and those that injoy it are under special engagements to bless God for it and to improve it diligently and thankfully to his Service and Glory but for a Man to arm such a Mercy as this against God to fight against him with one of his choicest Mercies this must be highly provoking to the Lord 'T is therefore mention'd as an high aggravation of Solomons sin in the 1 Kings 11. 9. that he sinned against the Lord after the Lord had appeared unto him twice 5. This way of sinning argues an extraordinary degree of hardness of heart 'T is a sign of little tenderness or sense of the evil of sin Some Men when God shews them the evil of sin in the glass of the Law they tremble at the sight of it So did Paul Rom. 7. 13. When the Commandment came sin revived and he died he sunk down at the sight of it But God shews thee the evil of sin in the glass of his Law and thou makest nothing of it O obdurate heart When the Rod was turned into a Serpent Moses fled from it was afraid to touch it but though God turns the Rod into a Serpent and discovers the venomous Nature of Sin in his Word thou canst handle and play with that Serpent and put it into thy bosome this shews thy heart to be of a strange complexion 6. To go against the convincing warning voice of Conscience violates and wounds a Mans Conscience more than any other way of sinning doth and when Conscience is so wounded who or what shall then comfort thee 'T is a true Rule Maxima violatio Conscientiae est maximum peccatum The more any sin violates a mans Conscience the greater that sin is The sin of Devils is the most dreadful sin and what makes it so but the horrid violation of their Consciences and malicious Rebellion against their own Light and clear Knowledge Iames 2. 19. They know and sin they believe and tremble 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they roar under the Tortures of Conscience like the Rote of the Sea or noise of the Rocks before a Storm O then if there be any degree of sense
them by fraud and oppression reduced to beggery and yet when a temptation is before you you cannot forbear to take the advantage as you call it to get the gain of oppression You have seen Drunkards cloathed with rags and brought to miserable ends Adulterers severely punished their Names and Estates Souls and Bodies blasted and wasted by a secret but just stroke of God Have you taken warning by these strokes of God and hearkned to the monitions and cautions your Consciences have thereupon given you If not thou art the Man that holdest the truth of God in Unrighteousness IV. Demand Do not you inwardly hate and do not your hearts rise against necessary and due reproofs given you by those that love your Souls better than your selves If you hate a faithful Reprover though you know you justly deserve the reproof and are guilty of the sin he reproves if you recriminate or deny in such cases you are certainly so far Confederates with Satan against your own Souls and imprison your own Convictions V. Demand Are not some of you Apostatized from the first Profession and are not those hopeful blossoms that once appeared upon your Souls blasted and gone You had quick Convictions and melting Affections tenderness in your Consciences and zeal for Duties But all is now vanished Your Affections are grown cold your Duties omitted though Conscience often bids you remember from whence you are fallen and do your first Works You are the persons guilty of this sin VI. Demand Do none of you presume upon future Repentance and so make bold with your Consciences for present thinking to compound that way with it This argues thee to be a self-condemned Man and one that holdest truth in Unrighteousness Thy Sin is present and certain thy Repentance but a peradventure 2 Tim. 2. 25. This is an high and a daring way of presumptuous sinning VII Demand Lastly Have none of you taken the Vows of God upon you to reform your course and break off your iniquities by Repentance when you have been under dangerous sickness on shore or dreadful tempests at Sea Have you not said Lord if thou wilt but spare and save me this once I will never live at the rate I have lived any more Try me O Lord this once And yet when that Affliction hath vanished your purposes and promises to God have vanished with it You are the Persons that hold the known Truths of God Prisoners in your Souls and to all these seven sorts of Sinners this Text may justly be as the hand-writing upon the Wall once was even a Mene tekel that may make thy very loynes to shake IV. USE This Doctrine winds up and finishes in Directions for the prevention of such presumptuous sins in Men for time to come that truth may have its free course through your Souls I. Direction And to this end my first Counsel and Direction is that you fail not to put every Conviction in speedy Execution Don't delay 't is a very critical hour and delayes are exceeding hazardous Convictions are fixed and secured in Mens Souls four wayes 1. By deep and serious consideration Psal. 119. 59. I thought upon my wayes and turned my feet unto thy testimonies 2. By earnest Prayer thus Saul under his first Convictions fell presently on his knees Acts 9. 11. Behold be prayeth The warm breath of Prayer foments and nourishes the sparks of Conviction that it be not extinct 3. By diligent attendance upon the Word the Word begets it and the Word can through God's blessing preserve it 1 Iam. 23. 24. 4. Present Execution falling without delay on the Duty thou art convinced of Iam. 1. 24. Be not forgetful hearers but doers of the work otherwise a Man is as one that looks into a glass and straightway forgets what manner of man he was Take the sense thus a man looks into the Glass in the Morning and there perhaps he sees a spot on his Face a disorder in his Hair or Cloaths and thinks with himself well I will rectifie it anon but being gone from the place one thing or other diverts his mind he forgets what he saw and goes all the day with the spot on his Face never minding it any more O brethren delayes are dangerous sin is deceitful Heb. 3. 13. Satan is subtil 2 Cor. 11. 3. and this way gains his Point This Motto may be written on the Tomb-stones of most that perish Here lies one that was destroyed by delayes Your Life is immediately uncertain so are the strivings of the Spirit also Besides there is a mighty advantage in the primus impetus the first heat of the Soul when thy heart is once up in warm Affections and Resolutions the work may be easily done as a Bell if once up goes easily but hard to raise when down See 2 Chron. 29. 36. What advantage there is in a present warm frame Beside the nature of these things is too serious and weighty to be post-pon'd and delay'd You cannot get out of the danger of Hell or into Christ too soon Moreover every repetition of sin after Conviction greatly aggravates it For it is in sinning as it is in numbering if the first be one the second is ten the third an hundred the fourth a thousand And to conclude think what you will you can never have a fitter season than the present the same difficulties you have to day you will have to morrow and it may be greater Fall presently therefore to execute your Convictions II. Direction If you would be clear from this great wickedness of holding the Truth in Unrighteousness then see that you reverence the Voice and stand in awe of the Authority of your own Consciences and resolve with Iob My heart shall not reproach me as long as I live Iob 27. 6. There be two considerations apt to beget reverence in men to the Voice of their own Consciences 1. 'T is our best Friend when pure and inviolated 2. 'T is our worst Enemy when wounded and affronted 1. Conscience obeyed and kept pure and inviolate is thy best Friend on Earth 2 Cor. 1. 12. This is our rejoycing the testimony of our Consciences The very Heathen could say Nil conscire tibi nulla pallescere culpa His murus ahenus esto What comforted Hezekiah on his supposed Death-bed but the fair Testimonial his Conscience gave in of his Integrity 2 King 2. 3. A good man saith Soloman shall be satisfied from himself but the backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways Mark the opposition Conscience gives the Backslider his Belly-full of Sorrow and the upright man his Heart-full of peace He is satisfied from himself that is from his own Conscience which though it be not the Original Spring yet it is the Conduit at which he drinks peace joy and encouragement 2. Conscience wounded and abused will be our worst Enemy No Poniards to Mortal as the wounds of Conscience A wounded Spirit who can bear Prov. 18. 14. Could Iudas