3.17 be it known unto thee O King we will not serve thy gods c. Acts 1.20 We cannot but speak a necessity is laid upon me I must preach c. Jer. 20 9. The Word was in him as fire he could not forbear it is the impulse of Conscience that was the cause there is a double necessity Externa interna c. Now according unto this order and subordination of the faculties so shall the torment be Conscience is subject to none but God therefore the spirit of bondage shall come into the Conscience and trouble that and this shall torment the whole man and as God does usually set up Governours and they become Instruments of wrath over the kingdoms where they dwell if they be good they are a special blessing they are the breath of our Nostrils the stay of our Tribes the Chariots and Horsemen but if they be wicked they ruine the kingdom Psal 75.3 Saul had even destroyed the Nation they are ravening Lyons and evening Wolves Zeph. 3.3 So it is in the government of the inward man if the Conscience be good it s the greatest blessing and if evil the greatest curse for as none has the Power the Authority and the Opportunity to undo a people like those that have the Rule over them so it is with the Conscience there is nothing hath that Authority and Oppertunity to undo a man like it because it is alwayes with him where soever he goes and therefore 〈◊〉 Mala domestica Austine compare an evil Wife and an evil Conscience because they are both intolerablâ— burdensome evils a continual droping none have the Opertunity 〈◊〉 Torment like these Thirdly Conscience here has 〈◊〉 great hand in corrupting the whoâ— man and therefore it is no wondeâ— if hereafter it should have the greâ— hand in Tormenting him First Here Conscience is blinâ— and does not shew a man what is 〈◊〉 Duty and so many men Sin igâ—rantly for want of an inlightneâ— Conscience when the eye of 〈◊〉 man is darkned Math. 6. Hoâ— great is that darkness Secondly Conscience is dead a spirit of slumber is upon it that though it know things to be evil yet it stirs not against them or if it does it is but faintly but a good Conscience exerciseth Authority over the whole man and smites him when ever he does evil as 1 Sam. 24.17 Thirdly it is erroneous and carries men unto evil violently under a pretence of good a zeal not according to knowledg Joh. 16.2 For zeal persecuting the Church Tantus eram Saulus â—hat he thought him worthy of eternal death that descented from the Authority of his Religion in any thing it is from a deceived heart an erroneous Conscience Fourthly Conscience will be bribed by Lust takes in carnal reason and corrupt principles and will be satisfied in them Rom 1. imprisons truths in unrighteousness 1 Tim. 4.2 And it is insensible of any thing and it is just with God that that Officer in the man that had the great hand in corrupting should also have the great hand in tormenting the whole man Quest 4. Fourthly Why is not Conscience a Worm here as well as hereafter in Hell First Because Conscience cannot work of it self unless the Spirit of God awaken it c. Secondly Here is the working time of Conscience its suffering time shall be hereafter Here Conscience has great workes to do and great talents to imploy Heb. 13.18 The charge of the whole Life lies upon the Conscience and the Lord haâ— here a great house 2 Tim. 2.20 Understand it of the World or of the Church yet he has in it Vessek of Honour and some to Dishonour Now Why does God suspend the torment of the Devils It is because Christ has much work for them to do and they would have no pleasure in Sin if their Torments were fuller so it is with wicked men also and therefore the Lord has appointed a working time for Conscience to perform its viatory office and he has a pointed a suffering time for Conscience allo and he will not Torment them before that time Thirdly Hereby the Lord does exalt his own patience and long suffering so much the more for Sin being an infinite evil and a man that is but dust to provoke God to his Face and to do it the rather because God forbears them and sin the more because God forbears them and because of his patience because sentence is not executed speedily therefore the hearts of the children of men are fully set to do evil now that God should bear with much patience and long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction and that the Lord should not stretch forth his own hand against them but that he should also suspend the working of their one Consciences and should not let loose the reins upon them which would bring them down in the midst of their galantry as Belshazer Felix Judas c. And that God should keep a hand upon their Consciences and withhold their own thoughts from flying upon them it does wonderfully set forth the patience of God The Lord knows how to reserve the wicked to the day of wrath Fourthly Many things here which stop the mouth of Conscience shall hereafter be removed and then Conscience will speak The Worm of Conscience is to the Soul as they say the disease of the Wolf is to the Body If it be fed with something from without will eat the less inwardly but take away all supplies from without and it destroys inwardly as all the good things of this Life will be gone and then the Soul turns in upon it self and will be its own Tormentor foâ— ever Rev. 20.12 And I saw thâ— dead small and great stand before God and the Books were openedâ— and another Book was opened which is the Book of Life and the Deaâ— were judged out of those things whicâ— were written in the Books according to their works It is an allusion to the day of judgment That 's granted by all The books opened are First the book of the Law and Gospel Secondly of Gods Omnisciency Thirdly of his Decre Fourthly the book of Conscience All those ancient Records that lay hid as Colours in the dark Rom. 2.15.16 or as something that is written with the juice of a Lemon you may read it when you bring it to the fire but not till then But we will now set forth those Tormenting acts of Conscience hereafter which shall be as the gnawings of this never dying worm but before we come to speak unto them perticularly it 's necessary that these four things be premised First That after this Life the Spirit of God shall come into the Conscience of a wicked man as a spirit of bondage fully for ever Conscience is but a subordinate power and acts allways with reference to a higher Law as a rule and a higher power as a Judge it is Regnum sub graviore Regno And therefore it never works by it self
defilement that may befall a mans Conscience First there is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Conscience is the seat of practical principles as there is a judgment in Conscience that it can make of what is true and what is false what is good and what is evil Secondly There is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I knowing and a judging of mans person and his wayes by these principles and the acts of Conscience that follow thereupon and the corruptions of either of these will pollute the Conscience First There is a Synteresis which are the principles by which men are acted in their ways which are the rules by which a man walks and by which he doth judge of himself and of all his ways and by which he doth direct and steer his whole course if these be true the Conscience is so far kept pure that though a man may sin against his knowledge and be carryed away by the violence of temptation yet it is contrary unto the rule and the principle that is within him there is something in him that is contrary to it and condemns it and takes part with God and with duty and the more a mans judgment and Conscience is leavened with corrupt principles the more is his Conscience defiled a man must hold the mystery of faith in a pure Conscience 1 Tim. 3.9 1 Tim. 1.19 holding Faith and a good Conscience which some having put away concerning the Faith have made shipwrack for the mystery of faith must be kept in a pure Conscience for if your judgments be leavened with corrupt principles 1 Tim. 3.9 you will soon make shipwrack of the faith which signifies a dangerous and an irrecoverable loss of it And here I will speak to these three things First That there is a great deal of danger that mens Consciences may be defiled in their principles and they corrupted in judgment Secondly The greatness of this danger what an evil it is for a man to have his judgment defiled and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of that Conscience corrupted Thirdly The means and rules how a man may be preserved from a polluted Conscience in this how a mans judgment may be kept undefiled and you had need to take heed for there is a great deal of danger that your judgment may be corrupted First Because there is a great deal of darkness in all Gospel-administrations in comparison of what we do expect the Lord shall give unto his people in the latter dayes when Ezekiel's Temple shall be built the Lord will shew his people all the forms and the patterns of his house and the goings in and the comings out thereof and in the sounding of the seventh Trumpet which refers unto the same time Rev. 11. last for then the mistery of God shall be finished the Temple shall be opened and we shall see into the Ark of the Testimony it had a vail before it that it might not be seen but the most hidden and secret things shall then be made manifest and clearly discovered and by the Ark some understand it of Christ of whom the Ark was a type there should be a further and a more glorious manifestation of him in all Church ordinances and administrations than ever there had been in times past But mean while there is a Sea of Glass but it is mixed with fire there is a great deal of affliction and bitter contention and the Temple is fill'd with smoak a great darkness upon all ordinances in so much that during all the time of the pouring out of the Vials no man that is no considerable and great company of men should be brought into the Church here and there a few converted but none in comparison of the fulness of Jews and Gentiles that shall be converted to God afterwards when the smoak of the Temple shall be dispel'd and done away and if there be so much darkness it is no wonder if men be in danger to be deceived and to be led away from the truth it is no wonder if men in the dark may eire and miss their way and therefore I would not have men as not too censorious of others so not too confifident of their own way in any thing that they have not a clear warrant for in the Word for surely this is the time of the Vials and it is spoken of the reformed Churches they that while the Vials were powering upon Antichrist did stand with the Lamb upon mount Sion that had gotten victory over the Beast and his Image and did sing the Song of Moses and of the Lamb c. and yet amongst them the Temple was full of smoak and therefore there is danger that you may be deceived and deluded c. Secondly There be a great many false teachers gone abroad in the World 1 John 4.1 Beloved believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God because many false Prophets are gone out c. It hath been the way that Satan has taken in all resormations as soon as ever the Gospel began to dawn in the World in the Apostles times there arose men of themselves that did speak perverse things Act. 20.30 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is such things as turn all upside down that subvert and overthrow all the principles and foundations of the doctrine of Christ that have been laid by himself and his Apostles Rev. 12. And when their was a reformation in the time of Constantine then another floud of heresy was cast out after the woman So in the reformation in Luthers time if the Lord do but sow good seed the enemy will come and sow tares and we see how much confidence Satan puts in this way of prevailing for it is his last remedy that he shall use to uphold the kingdom of Antichrist as we see Rev. 16.13 The Vial being powred out upon the seat of the Beast and Rome falling as a Millstone into the Sea without hope of recovery and now there is a new Church ariseing coming out of the Wilderness leaning upon her Beloved and Euphrates dryed up to make way for the Kings of the East Now he doth send out of the mouth of the â—east and the Dragon and salfe Prophet three unclean spirits like Frogs and they are the spirits of Devils working miracles and going forth into the Kings of the earth c. They are said to be spirits for their activity and impetiousness so some but I rather think they are called spirits that is false teachers because they pretend to speak by the spirit as 1 John 4.1 Believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they be of God and they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is not the ordinary word that is used for the Devil but a word doth express knowledg and learning c. They shall send forth there most learned men of the greatest parts and the best wits and they that shall teach spirits as Frogs they that shall teach unclean and corrupt
sins Thirdly That all a mans comfort comes in by it Isa 40.1 says God speak comfortably to her and tell her that her fins are pardoned be of good cheer for thy sins are forgiven and Gods people many of them that walk in bitterness all their dayes and have sad hearts and they pray and their souls draw near to the grave and all this God permits that he might raise the price of pardon in their hearts when he bids them be of good cheer their sins are forgiven and then their flesh comes again as the flesh of a young child These and many the like principles of prophaness there is in the hearts of men and these being once granted they do bear a great sway with a man in his whole life Thus we have seen how to keep a pure Conscience in respect of the principles in mens hearts Now let us come to the second which is how to keep Conscience pure in respect of practise and therein two things are to be spoken to First The notes of a defiled Conscience Secondly Rules how to preserve it pure from defilement First Marks how to judge of the defilement of a mans Conscience as first when a man sins much against knowledge Tit. 1.15 and to sin against knowledge is one of the highest aggravations of sin and it makes every sin to be presumptious and qualifies a man Heb. 10.27 for the great transgression if a mans sin will fully after he has received the knowledge of the truth if you had been blind you had had no sin the Pharisees and the people committed the same sin they all persecuted Christ but the Pharisees sin'd against the Holy Ghost in it and the people did it ignorantly and repented sins that are ignorantly commited leave a door open to mercy Paul obtained mercy for I did it ignorantly in unbelief yet though he did it ignorantly there was need of mercy but because he did it ignorantly therefore there was hope of mercy there was place for mercy and the more the light is of education and example the greater the sin it is a great advantage to have good education Pro. 22.6 Train up a Child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it and so Pro. 31.1 it was that which his mother taught him and Timothy knew the Scriptures from a child and examples do aggravate sins Isa 26.10 In a Land of uprightness will he deal unjustly c. and Dan. 5. Thou Belshazzar hast not humbled thy heart though thou knowest all this to have a light within a man as well as example without to have been once enlightned and tasted of the heavenly gift and then fall away it 's impossible to renew them unto repentance for a man to turn away from professed light and cast up his vomit and lick it up again and as a washed Sow return to the myre again and after many years enquiring of God return with Saul the Witches This is a dreadfull state and such a one had better never to have known the wayes of God c. Secondly When a man resolves to reserve to himself any way of sinning Joh 20.12 Some sweet Morsell and the man hides it see it in Herod he did hear John Baptist gladly and did many things but there was a Herodias that he did reserve and was resolved he could not part with it so there is a way of wickedness that men will not turne from as there are fundamentals in faith and errours in these are most dangerous to destroy the foundation so there are some fundamentals in practise and they will subvert all and this is one of the main that a man deny himself in every known sin pluck out the right eye and cut off the right hand and there is no man that is more polluted in the sight of God than he that spares a right eye or a right hand for there is no sin that this one evil reserved will not draw him to Luke 8.13 in the time of temptation he will fall away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Herod try him in his darling and he will turn a persecutor of that way that before he professed and Judas in his covetousness turn'd Devil and betray'd his Master Thirdly When men fall often into the same sin see it in Sampson and Peter that the Lord lets them fall so fouly at the Last being insnared by carnal confidence so often and Jonas was angry again and again and justified it when a man makes a sin his meat and drink the comfort of his life comes in by it from day to day it 's a sad sign Fourthly with the more hardness of heart and with the less relenting sin is committed and the longer he can lye in it unrepented of as we see it in Judas he was told of the evil and danger of it it had been good for him if he never had been born and yet he goes out and saith What will you give me and some good men as David and Solomon yet lay long in a way of sinning the sooner a man riseth after falls and a mans heart smites him as Davids did the more pure is that mans Conscience in the sight of God to be past feeling and for men to give themselves up to uncleanness Eph. 4.19 it 's a sad sign of a sear'd Conscience 1 Tim. 4.2 c. Fifthly When a temptation takes speedily with a man John 13.27.30 Christ did give Judas a Sop which was a signal to give Satan a farther possession of him and he follows the temptation but after that he went immediately out there was no more consultation so the sooner also that motions to duty prevail with a man the more pure his Conscience is when the Lord sayes seek you my face the Soul presently answers thy face Lord will I seek the spirit sayes come and the Bride sayes come and the sooner motions to sin take with a man the more impure and defiled is his Conscience Pro. 7.23 He no sooner saw a Harlot but he went after her straight way their hearts are hot as an Oven c. Sixthly The more a man plots iniquity and dothdeliberate it before hand makes pro vision for the flesh the adulterer waits for the twy-light Rom. 13.14 and he doth lye in wait at his neighbours door when men dig deep for wayes how to accomplish that that is evil the more men exercise their wits in sin and the more devilish wisdom is in it to commit iniquity by counsell and advice is the wisdom of the flesh ingeniose nequam as Pharaoh men will destroy the just by cruelty and yet deal wisely and Julian by clemency yet deal wisely let them enjoy their liberty by corrupting them by liberty and in peace destroy them God abhors plotted wickedness and surely God will bring it to nought and confound men by it Seventhly When men watch oppertunities of sinning and be glad ofthem and be sorry
heed of some special sins that above others do most defile the Conscience though indeed all sins defile the Conscience but some sins are of a more bewitching and a more defiling nature then others as First Secret sins will provoke God to give thee up to the judgment of a defiled Conscience as he did Judas because he was a Devil Secondly Idolatry Take heed of hankering after that abomination either to worship an Idol a false god or the true God in a false manner and it is this last that you are most in danger of therefore let it not be said of any of you you know not what you worship but be able to say we know what we worship and how we worship God in spirit and truth and do not set up mans post by Gods post away with all traditious and inventions of men in the worship of God If you would keep Gods presence observe his order let all be done according to the pattern to the Law and to the Testament c. Else God may in just judgment send us strong delusions to believe lies which I fear is like to befall many of this nation who have not received the truth in ths love of it Thirdly Take heed of drunkenness and Whoredome Hos 14.12 Whoredome and Wine and new Wine Prov 2.19 take away thy heart none that go unto her return again neither take they hold of the paths of Life c. Flee fornication and be not drunk with Wine there is a woe to the drunkards c. Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge These sins besot men c. Lastly Be much in a secret judging of your selves and in a private examination Hag. 1.7 the Lord saith consider your ways and set your hearts upon them and turn in upon your actions and overlook them again bring them to the Light prove your selves and judge your selves and do it often there is a daily judicatory to be erected a cultus conscientiae which a man should be busied about every day Matt. 25.7 Then all those Virgins arose and trimmed their lamps the wise as well as the foolish c. Ego de terrenis negotiis simpliciter accipio Calv. Whilest men are in this World there is a daily defilement that will cleave unto them a squallor there will be something out of order that there must be a daily and a continual triming the wise as well as the foolish Virgins must be found in it and truely if a man neglects it but a while and keeps not a constant course in it a man shall find a strange averseness in his spirit thereunto all his life after for the way to sin's defilement is mainly by insensibleness a man is hardened by the deceitfulness of sin and walks with God at a venture and truely if Satan brings a man to that once he hath prevailed very farr and will exceedingly defile the man We have spoken of keeping a good Conscience 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 towards God let us now come to consider also what it is for a man to keep a good Conscience towards man for both these must go together he must keep a good Conscience in all things as was hinted formerly and be holy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for a dead fly spoils the whole Box of Oyntment and a good Conscience is like to the eye it hates motes and they disquiet it as well as beams It 's an errour in the common sort of men to think all Religion lyes in their just and upright carriage towards men as the Pharisees did and to such I say doth your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the cribes and Pharisees if not you shall never enter into the Kingdom of God c. Indeed there is a civil honesty a sweet and an ingenious carriage towards men that is very lovely and these are commonly called the worlds Saints and indeed they have nothing amongst them appears so pleasing Mar. 10.21 Christ loved the young man and yet peculiar Grace he had none for he was under the reigning power of covetousness and therefore there was something in him that was more general for which Christ loved him he had restraining grace and a sweet outward carriage that even the spirit of God had wrought in him habent filii concubinarum sua munera c. and yet Christ said to him for all these accomplishments one thing thou lackest c. and if thou walk never so uprightly before men that thou be esteemed the worlds Saint and thou couldest bring a testimony of thy good behaviour from all the ingenious men of thy age yet without an inward work of grace and regeneration and a heart inlivened by a spirit of faith so that all these works flow from union with Christ and from a principle of love wrought in thee to God truly all that thou dost is abominable to God in non renatis non solum peccata sed bona opera sunt mortalia for fides est caput bonorum operum and if that be wanting all of it is but nature improved and new dressed and so can never please God semen naturae non consurgit in fructum gratiae for a mans duties do proceed from the same principles that his sins do and there must be a renewing in the spirit of his mind before God accepts any service of him And there are some men do turn to the other extream and they say that all obedience is mainly towards God and therefore they are much in prayer and hearing and run from Ordinance to Ordinance and they do speak much also of keeping a good Conscience before God but yet they are negligent and loose in their carriages towards men they are as censorious and unjust and deceitfull busie-bodies in other mens matters proud boasters false accusers whisperers c. Yet these men would pass for Saints and think themselves in the highest form of professors Now this is a sure rule a pure Conscience though he cannot keep all the commandments of God yet he has a respect unto them all as Psal 119.6 with a care to walk answerable unto them and there is none that he doth wholly neglect as the word in the Hebrew signifies that man therefore whose profession for God is never so high and talkes never so much of having a good heart to Gods word and would be accounted in his religious duties even Angelical he prays much hears much fasts much c. Yet if he practise it not in his particular place in his relations in his shop in his dealings with a man I shall strongly suspect that man of hallowness and hypocrisie how ever he may tip his Tongue like a Saint yet he may boldly be reckoned amongst the sinners and such are spots in our feasts c. Now To stir you up to this Duty of keeping a good Conscience towards men let me exhort you to observe these particulars First Take special care of the souls that are committed to your
soul upon it self it 's own filthiness and wilfull folly What fair offers and opportunities he has had and neglected what fair hopes he had conceived and they are vanished and how all the pleasures of sin and the promises of Satan have deceived him as a Brook that passeth by and this will gnaw upon the soul with remediless and unconceivable torment for ever this is the Worm that never dyes and truly there is no consideration in the World will work upon the hearts of men if this dreadfull one does not That a man that lives and dyes in sin in a sinfull state shall be tormented for ever with fire that shall never be quenched and this nevever dying Worm shall gnaw upon him to all Eternity with remediless and unconceivable torments for ever This is the Worm that never dyes After this life a wicked mans own Conscience shall be his tormenter Doctrine The Worm dyes not it will be a great instrument that God will use in a mans destruction There are Four things to be spoken to in the Explication First to shew what Conscience is which is here resembled to a Worm Secondly To prove that this Conscience shall be a mans tormenter Thirdly To give the grounds and the reasons of it Fourthly To set forth some of those acts that Conscience as a Worm shall put forth the manner of the working of it in the gnawings of a Worm and then come to the Application Quest 1. First What is Conscience Answ It is an ability in the understanding to judge of a mans self his Estate and Actions according to the rule that God hath prescribed Here observe First It is an ability in the understanding for I make it not as some do a distinct faculty therefore it is in no Creatures but those that are reasonable Men and Angels other Creatures are directed to an end and they work by a rule thereunto but they neither know their end nor their rule neither are they able to reflect upon their actions whether they have done good or evil and therefore no Creature can sin but a reasonable Creature for sin must be a transgression of a Rule which a man doth or ought to know and to walk answerable unto and therefore it is made a proper act of a man Isa 46.8 Remember this and shew your selves men Secondly Conscience must have a rule indeed the Scripture doth require that men should walk according to their consciences and do as their Conscience doth dictate unto them Rom. 13.5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject not only for wrath but for Conscience sake ye must be subject 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and when Conscience requires one thing and Lust another and the man receives not the rule of Conscience but of Lust he doth then imprison the truth in unrighteousness where the Dictates of Conscience are called the truth Rom. 1.18 though it be but of a natural Conscience But yet here men mistake for Conscience is but regula regulata not the highest rule for it must it self have a Rule to judge by Gal 6.16 and he that doth not go by rule and hath no higher rule to regulate his Conscience and yet doth by his Conscience regulate his Actions Conscience being defiled Pit 1.15 He doth walk with God at a venture Lev. 26.21 And this rule of Conscience is the whole revealed wil of God whether ex principiis naturae or scripturae whatever God requires of a man as duty whether by his word or by his works and Conscience knows no other rule but the will of God revealed because it is subjected unto no other God only can command the Conscience and bind the Conscience because he only can judge the Conscience Now the understanding having nothing else but a principal of nature for it's rule we call that a natural Couscience and they that have the word of God for their rule or any special work of illumination from the Holy Ghost whether it be common or saving we call this an inlightned Conscience answerable unto the rule that it has to judge by either of mens states or wayes Thirdly The chief act of Conscience and that which is only proper and essential to it is to judge of the man according to this rule and to pronounce a sentence upon him whether good or evil and hence is the accusing and the excusing power of Conscience Rom. 2.14 15. if Conscience judge of an action to answer the rule then it excuseth and if that be different from the rule then it accuseth and therefore 't is said Joh. 8.9 They are consinced of their own Consciences that is their Consciences laid their acts to the rule and did tell them that they did not agree to it and they could not deny it and therefore went their way and therefore Conscience is alwayes in Scripture called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a knowing and judging of one thing with another a knowing and judging of a mans state or actions with the rule 2 Cor. 4.2 we approve our selves to every mans conscience says the Apostle in the sight of God and that is all our aim we seek not to approve our selves to your lusts your fancies we may sometime in our Ministerie reprove sin that you are not willing to leave and press to duty that you are not willing to practice we may cross your affections and provoke your lusts but yet we know that we have something within you that takes our part and doth approve the Doctrine that we teach and the duties that we practice all the while so that the main of Conscience lyes in judging or applying an action to the rule and pronouncing a sentence accordingly So that in 1 Cor. 11.31 Judge your selves c. and Isa 5.3 Judge I pray between me and my Vineyard So that Conscience is an ability in a man having a rule given him to reflect upon his actions and state and â—udge whether it agree with the rule that is given to it or no. 4thly That which is subjected to the judgement of Conscience is a mans state and wayes the whole man To judge other men is not properly our work either their actions or states unless we are called by special Office thereunto for thou judgest another mans servant he stands and falls to his own Master But a mans whole self is subjected to the judgement of Conscience First Conscience judges of a mans state 1 Joh. 3.20 If thy heart condemn thee or do not condemn thee and Jam. 1.24 The Word doth shew a man what manner of man he is and in what state he stands towards God whether he be one of the wise or foolish Virgins or builders whether he build upon a Rock or the Sand. Now consciscience takes this rule and lays a mans state to it and tels the man this is my condition Secondly Conscience judges of mens actions Rom. 9.1 I speak the truth I lye not my Conscience bearing me witness 〈◊〉
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I do not speak this with my mouth and my conscience gives me the lye but Conscience speaks the same thing and joint with me in the testimony 2 Cor. 12. This is our rejoycing the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our conversation in the World but more especially to you-ward c. Conscience brings his carriage towards them to the rule and judges of it to agree and to be consonant thereunto and therefore gives testimony within him and into this Court the spirit of God commonly comes to assist conscience to pronounce the sentence For conscience is defiled and so over-awed and bribed and blinded by lust that it cannot many times pronounce a right sentence till the Spirit of God comes into the Court and acts Conscience and causeth it to judge aright of his estate and and wayes also and therefore Rom. 9.1 My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Ghost the Holy Ghost doth witness with Conscience and Conscience in the power of the Spirit does witness to the man so in a wicked man it is a Spirit of bondage that is does cause Conscience to witness bondage which else by reason of the self love and self flattery that is in the man it will never do and in a godly man it witnesseth grace and adoption which of it self it can never do and therefore the spirit is a witness in Heaven and in earth also even in a renewed Conscience the spirit does 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We come now to give the reasons or the grounds of the point which will be best done by answering these Questions First As inordinate love unto a mans self has been the great cause of all a mans sins 2 Tim. 3.2 So it is self loathing that is the cause of all a mans Torment a man shall be a burden to himself Job 7.20 A terror to himself Jer. 20 4. As by self love they have corrupted themselves so by self loathing they shall torment themselves for ever and so the Lord will take the same way in punishing that they have taken in sinning That the sin that a man hath here taken most pleasure in shal hereafter be to him the matter of his his greatest torment as we see it here immediately as soon as God does awaken the Conscience there is no sin so dreadful to a man as his darling and he fears nothing like that which he has most loved and desired so it will be hereafter in a mans punishment also as nothing was so loved admired and deifi'd as himself so there shall be nothing that he shall loath and abhor like himself for ever and answerable to a mans self love so will his self loathing be for Revel 8.8 so much pleasure so much torment No sin wil will pierce Herods heart like to his rodias And there is no sin that a man spares more here than his darling and there is none will be more cruel to them hereafter and as a worm feed upon their hearts and eat up their inward man for ever and so it is in it self also as there is nothing they have loved more and spared more here they have wholly been cruel unto others but unto themselves sparing they shall not be so hereafter but above all others they shall be cruel to themselves for ever Quest 2d Secondly Seeing God will torment a man by himself why is the main of a mans torment in his Conscience above all other faculties It is true that as every faculty hath been filled with the fruits of all unrighteousness so every faculty shall be a Vessel filled with wrath but above all others why the Worm in the Conscience Answ First Because it is the spirit of the man and that wherein his main strengh lyes Prov. 18.14 Secondly Because it is the tenderest part of the soul it 's resembled to the eye Matth. 7.3 And therefore most sensible it is capable of more torment than any other of the faculties and powers of the soul what soever Thirdly There the Lord will inflict the punishment where the sin mainly is now of all the faculties of the soul there is none so defiled as the Conscience Tit. 1.15 For the guilt of all the sins of the whole soul is there Jer. 17.1 Heb. 9.4 There are the Treasures of sin therefore there wil the Lord power out the Treasures of wrath c. Quest 3. Thirdly But if the Lord will torment the Conscience why doth not the torment rest there But he will make that the instrument to torment the whole man Why shall that do it rather than the wil or affections c. But the torment of the whole soul must come in by the Conscience this is the Flood gate or as I may call it the Funnel of wrath Answ First Because God has given unto Conscience he greatest honour in the soul and has exalted it above all other powers and abilities of the soul whatsoever The main of the Image of God was stampt upon it at first if we judge by the renewing of it for the great effect of redemption is there Heb. 9.14 And of renovation also Ephes 4 23. It is called the Spirit of the mind 1 Thes 5.23 The Spirit Pro. 18.14 It is to be referred ad illam partem que nobilissima est Calv And therefore the main work of Sanctification lies in the Conscience a pure Conscience Now the Image of God in Sanctification is renewed therefore where this Image is most renewed there it was most planted for we are renewed according to the Image of him that created us And the main thing that God respeâ—â—s in all Ordinances Heb. 9 8. is to make the man perfect according to his Conscience and that is Conscientiam puram pacatam râ—ddere to pacifie it and purifie it this is the perfection of the Conscience and the perfection of the Conscience is the perfection of the man Now that which was the great glory of the soul that shall be the shame of it God will turn a mans glory into shame and that which should have been his perfection that shall become his torment for ever Secondly Conscience has the greatest Office and power and authority in the soul it is Gods Vicegerent every man is as it were a petty Kingdome and as God has set Princes upon earth in their several Kingdomes so he has in the man also and he has committed unto Conscience the whole Law of God and the whole duty of man and Conscience is that in joyns it upon all the faculties and that sees it executed Rom. 13 5. You must be subject that is not only ratione externae coactionis but internae obligationis Conscience is subject unto none but God but the whole soul is put in subjection unto the Conscienceâ— and let men the greatest upon earth command yet if Coscience gives it non plaeet it is no law in the man it shall never be obeyed Dan.
alone but it doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 2.14.15 Rom 1. as well as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and hence it is that the same thing hath such different effects upon the spirits of men There were many in the company of Belshazar when the hand-wrighting apeared Dan. 5.5.6 and yet none that we read of was affected with it but the King and it was not the hand-wrighting that troubled him but at the same time the spirit of God did come into his Conscience and his own thoughts troubled him stir'd up and acted his Conscience and they sudenly terrisie him as the word doth here signify And â—rov 18.14 We reaâ— of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sad anâ— troubled broaken and tender spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And who has power over the spirits of a man It is subject unto none but God and the spirit of God and therefore none is able to wound the spirit of a man no more then they can command it without the spirit of God come in with it Therefore one man is moved by a threatning and another man is not one man is pricked in his heart and the other feels it not It is as tâ—e spirit of God doth come into the Conscience of men Now as there is a twofold Covenant so there is a twofold Spirit That is in respect of the double effect that the spirit of God works upon the spirits of men for every man hath the spirit of God working in him answerable to the Covenant under which he stands Christ having the administration of both Covenants the Covenant of grace and the Covenant of works and the spirit of Christ being the Prorex of Christ in the administration of all things in his kingdom the spirit that accompanies the first Covenant and works in all that are under it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 8.15 2 Tim. 1.7 But the spirit that acompanies the Covenant of grace and works in all those whose Covenant is changed is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 8.45 2 Cor. 3.17 And the liberty or the bondage of a mans spirit lies mainly in his Conscience The spirit of God coming in to a mans Conscience gives him boldness and a manuduction into the presence of God the boldness of a man that has a spirit of adoption Job 2 it makes him lift up his face in the presence of God and the spirit coming into a mans heart as a spirit of Bondage it casts upon a man chains of darkness Jude 6. Heb. 2.15 Now As here in this life the spirit of God as a spirit of Sonship and Adoption comes into the soul but by degrees and we do but receive the first fruits Rom. 8.23 The earnest Ephes 9.4 All is but as a spark to the Fire a drop to the Ocean and the spirit of God works and withdraws it self and the man is diserted so now the coming of the spirit of God into the Conscience is but a pledge and the first fruits of wrath which now a man receives but in the first fruits in a weak measure and with much intermission We have our well and our ill dayes c. And men have their deversions notwithstanding the pangs of their Consciences Caine can build Cities to drown the cry of Conscience but hereafter as the spirit of God in Heaven shall be perfectly a spirit of Adoption so in Hell it shall be perfectly a spirit of Bondage and Fear and that without intermission or interception for ever Secondly After this Life Conscience shall be perfectly inlightned and perfectly awakened There are two great evils that hinder the working of Conscience in this Life First A blindness and that both sinful and penal Luk 19.11 They would not know the things of their peace in the day of their peace therefore they were now hid from their eyes and so men go hoodwinckt to Hell and fall into distruction ere they apprehend their danger Mal. 3.8 Will a man rob God c. And they say wherein have we rob'd thee Isa 26.11 The hand of the Lord is lifted up but they will not see and Isa 5.20 They call evil good and good evil put darkness for light and light for darkness and they Math. 6.7 Did think they had prayed well when they babled much for they did expect to be heard for it and so there is a great deal of blindness that does sease upon men Judicially Rom. 11.7 Secondly There is also a spirit of stumber Isa 29.10 The word in the Hebrew is the same that is used of Adam when God took out a rib from him Gen. 2.21 Let God threaten judgment and terrour out of his word and the man awakes not but is in a deep sleep still But there are some spiritual Judgments that are also eternal a man being forsaken of God and God leaving him to the willful wickedness of his own spirit But there are some that are but temporal and only for the time of this Life God gives men over to Atheism and the Fool says there is no God But though there are Atheists here there are no Atheists in Hell God gives men over to blindness here that they will not see that sin is so great an evil and the wrath of God is so dreadful as it is But they shall see and the blindness of their minds shall be done away and they shall be awakned and the spirit of slumber removed and Conscience shall never sleep again Thirdly All the faculties of the soul shall be inlarged here they are streightned by sin and are of a narrow capacity and it is little either joy or sorrow that they are capable of also Conscience renewed is capable of a little Grace there is an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a measure a pitch to which they come and that is but little before they be translated to Glory it is but a taste that the Lord is gracious it is but the first fruits of the spirit but after this life all the faculties shall be inlarged that they shall be made vessels prepared for Glory So wicked men Cain and Judas they are capable of a little wrath here as a man cannot see God and live he is not capable of the glory of Heaven so neither is a man capable of the torments of Hell and live a child is capable of more wrath in Hell then the wickedest man that ever was whilest he lived here therefore they shall be vessels fitted for destruction c. And hence it is that men cannot call to mind the offers of grace and opertunities neglected rejected motions the duties omited the sins commited Sermons heard the truths that were offered to be disposed the several checks of a mans own Conscience and the several admonitions of friends reproaches of enemies c. A man cannot conceive how it should be but then our faculties shall be inlarged and we shall put off our houses of Clay by which the soul is streightened and it shall be conversant
no more about these streightned objects but about the vast things of Eternity for ever The things of Eternity pass knowledg and pass fear 1 Cor. 13.12 This life in grace is but childhood to Heaven the faculties and abilities of our souls are streightned so this life in sin and misery is but childhood unto Hell for there shall the soul be inlarged for God has made the soul capable of greater joyes and greater sorrows greater blessings and greater sufferings then there are in this Life and he would never have prepared such vessels either for wrath or glory but that he means to fill them and this inlargement shall be by degrees as he will fill them by degrees and as grace inlarges and prepares the heart for glory Col. 1.12 so does sin inlarge and prepare the heart for wrath and therefore they are said Rom. 9.23 To be vessels fited for distruction as well as prepared for glory c. Fourthly After this Life all comfortable affections and actings of the soul shall have an end There be some acts of soul that are comforting and cheering and there are some acts that are afflicting and tormenting the comforting acts are in refference to good things either present or to come if present the soul loves them and rejoyceth in them and if absent the soul loves them desires them and hopes for them and all these do cheer the soul and in the exercise of these the life of the soul comes in but after this Life all good things of this Life in present fruition or future reversion shall have an end From the creatures all good things at Death shall take their leave they are but this worlds goods and for all good things from God there shall be none for they shall have Judgment without mercy pure and utter darkness there shall not be a beam of light or the hope of any good thing for the soul to live upon unto Eternity for if a man were to lye in Hell a million of years and were to expect then a release his soul would live but being swallowed up in eternity of misery without hope the soul dyes These affections shall still remain in the soul but because they have no object therefore shall never be exercised as fear and sorrow are in the Saints in Heaven but never are exercised because there is no object upon which it should be exercised Therefore in Hell there never shall be an act of love or joy or hope more to eternity the hope of the wicked is as the giving up of the Ghost he breaths it out with his last breath and he shall never hope more for ever and there are in the soul some tormenting and afflicting acts in reference unto evil things present or to come if it be present there is sorrow and if to come fear and if it be looked upon as an insuportable and inseparable no way to escape it there is dispair for ever Now seeing there shall be the absence of all good at present and in hope and the presence of all evil and a mans condition under it helpless and hopeless therefore after this life to ungodly men all comforting acts of soul shall cease and all the tormenting acts shall take place and act in their full power and vigour for ever Now let us come to the particulars wherein Conscience doth apear to be a worm after this life manely There is a four fold act of Conscience and in every one of them it does hereafter become a worm First There is an act of Accusation Secondly of Conviction Thirdly of Condemnation Fourthly of Execution The torments that follow the soul after all these and in these does this furious reflection of the soul upon it self consist First An act of accusation Rom. 2.15 Conscience accusing and excusing and this consists in two things First A reviewing and reflecting upon the rule that a man did and should have walked in Secondly Upon the unanswerableness of a mans wayes unto this rule and so Conscience shall charge upon a man all the errours of his way for an accusation does suppose and lay down a Law and then charges a man with the breach thereof there is a double book of Conscience the first is a book of precepts and rules secondly a book of practises First For the book of rules and precepts there shall be manifested three things after this life First There are many rules of duty that we are ignorant of and so there are many sins of ignorance committed that men know not to be a sin because they are unacquainted with the rule of duty for we know in part and prophecy in part 1 Cor. 13. There is a vail upon the hearts of men in many things that they know not what they do Now to this end the book of Law and Gospel shall be opened and thereby a mans Duty discovered and Conscience inlightned in those things which here it never knew Rom. 2.16 for he will judge the secrets of all men according unto my Gospel c. Secondly There are several sins commited out of errour and mistake and upon false rules The Lord will bring forth and discover unto a man all these false and erroneous principles by which he has been led in his whole course John 16.2 1 Cor. 2.8 had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory Rom. 10.2 they have a zeal but not according to knowledg many things they did from an erroneous Conscience now all these false principles that mislead a man in his wayes shall be brought forth also and the falshood of them discovered Thirdly There are many true principles which Conscience does receive here from the word and the ministery thereof which are called truth Rom. 1.18 Who withhold the truth in unrighteousness All these rules in their authority holiness and equity shall be set before a man and how all of them were required of man for his good Thus the book of precepts being opened and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Conscience inlarged now follow the opening of the second book and that is that of practises First Conscience does charge upon a man sins of ignorance this thou hast done through ignorance of such a rule as Paul knew not Lust to be a sin before that the Commandment said thou shalt not Lust and then thy ignorance shall be discovered unto thee before men and angels and that with all thy means and opertunities of knowledg you to whom the Lord wrote the great things of his Law that had the Scriptures in your own Language and freedom and liberty to use them you that had all manner of helps publickly and privately preaching and writing wherein men do transcribere aias you that dwelt in the valley of Vision and yet of these things you are wilfully ignorant and in the things you know not in them you have corrupted your selves now they that counted it matter of shame to be instructed by a
minister and matter of scorn to be examined by him fearing least they should bewray their ignorance God will charge it upon thy Conscience and make thee bear the shame of it before men and angels those sins thou hast commited and those things thou hast omited out of ignorance that such rules thou oughtest to have known Secondly The Lord will charge upon a man the sins that he commited upon false and eroneous principles Thou hast called the proud happy and because they that hate the Lord are exalted therefore thou hast fallen upon those wayes and thought their way to be the onely way to peace and prosperity thou hast thought Usury Sabbath breaking petty oathes officious lyes were little or nothing and that if a man performed the outward duties of Religion went to Church and heard a Sermon and kept himself unspotted before men and walked lovingly amongst his neighbours this was enough to bring him to Heaven and that what was more was but either needless scrupulosity or affected singularity which is but hypocrisie and therefore thou hast counted religious men the precise fools of the time when thou hast seen them with Dives as a Lazarus at thy door and regarded them not but men shall recant their corrupt opinions and publish their retractations and be ashamed of them before Men and Angels Psal 50.21 thou thoughtest wickedly that I was such a one as thy felf but I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine eyes Thirdly Conscience shall charge a man with the Truths he knew and imprison'd Rom. 1. last and 2.1 who knowing the judgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of death not only do the same but have pleasure in them that do them therefore thou art inexcusible thou knewest this to be a sin and yet commitedst it and such as thing to be a duty and yet neglectedst it and then all a mans omissions and comissions sins of ignorance and wilfulness or errour shal be charged upon him And here are three things in a special manner that shall be charged First in this life our memories are frail Heb. 12.5 and we let things slip out of them Heb. 2.1 and ye have forgotten the exaltation which c. We forget that we hear but there shall be no forgetfulness hereafter Conscience shall record all the rules of duty in their order Secondly Is 50 17. Here there are manifold diversions of our thoughts and men do cast these rules of duty and their sins against them behind their backs but it shall then be so set before a man that it shall be his study for ever and he shall never be able to turn from it Conscience shall always set his sins before him as David said my sin is ever before me Thirdly There is this difference between this life and the life to come here these rules are set before a man that he might learn and obey them but hereafter they are set before him to throw the neglect of them upon him that he might be upbraided with the guilt of them for ever Job 27.22 and Job 27.6 that our hearts might reproach us for ever there is a great deal of difference between the admonition of a father telling the son his duty or of a minister instructing a man and between a judg telling a malefactor his sin and his duty the one doth it in order to his direction and reformation and the other doth it in order to his execution and conviction that he may see and be silenced that the judgment and sentence past upon him is just and to lay the guilt of his own destruction upon his own head for ever Secondly an act of conviction here if sin be charged upon men every man hath a Counsellor within his own breast to plead for him which is his own carnal reason and that does many times seek to excuse à toto and the man pleads not guilty as David for the death of Vriah 2 Sam 11.25 and Pilate gives sentence against Christ and yet excuses himself that he had nothing to do with the blood of this just man and the Pharisies and Priests Acts 5.28 they had no hand in the death of Christ and therefore they are displeas'd that the Apostles had filled Jerusalem with their doctrine and intend to bring this mans blood upon us reatum invidiam mortis Christi or else it minceth the matter and excuseth à tanto if it be evil yet not so great an evil for it is the common custom Act. 28.22 it is a sect spoken against every where c. and by after inconveniencies Joh. 11.48 else the Romans will come and destroy place and Nation and so many plead for Ale-houses Game-houses Play-houses a trade of beging and usury for Widows and Orphans how shall they live else and a subtile distinction for swearing Mat 23.16 swear by the Temple for men to swear it is nothing but who ever shall swear by the Gold of the Temple he is a debtor so we hear men say to swear by God it 's a sin we will allow to be something but to swear by Faith and Troth by light c. by Creatures is no evil as Judg. 21.22 they elude their vow by saying we did not give them but they did take them with our knowledge and consent c. and with such kind of pleas as an ignorant judge is blinded by the subtleties of his Counsel casting a varnish over an evil cause and drawing a Cobweb â—awn over it so is Conscience also But after this life all these pleas shall vanish and men shall be convicted of their own Consciences that they shall have nothing to say for themselves a man shall be speechless Mat 22.12 he shall have no cloak for his sin John 15.22 he was without an excuse or apologie Rom. 2.19 a Deus foras in crepabit conscientia intus accusabit Greg. there shall be on means either to deny it or extenuate it for 2 Cor. 5.11 we are made manifest unto God and I trust unto your Consciences and this Conscience shall do by setting before a man First The unreasonableness of sin Jer 2.13 that I did forsake the Fountain of living water and digged to my self broken â—isterns so foolish was I and as a beast before thee Secondly The causelesness of it Jer. 2.5 what iniquity have your fathen found in me Mic. 6 3. oh my people what have I done to you testify against me have I been a Wilderness Thirdly God did forbear me with much patience 2 Pet. 3.5 did not cut me down but spared me this year also and I had horae plusquam amenae nunquam rediturae c. 4ly from several inducements to obedience the compassionate calls of God Act. 20.31 oh Ephraim what shall I do unto thee my repentings are kindled within me Christ weeps over Jerusalem and his ministers shed tears the promises of God and the society of the faithful the
one potion and therefore it will be good for you to take that in time also Now what is this medicine that will purge the Conscience it is the blood of Christ onely Heb. 9.14 It shall purge your Conscience from dead works and Heb. 10.22 Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience Here is first the disease and that is dead works with the subject of it or the part of the evil affected that is the Conscience Secondly There is the medicine it 's the bloud of Christ who offered himself by the eternal spirit without spot to God Thirdly The manner how this blood doth it it is by sprinkling and therein the power of this medicine is put forth First The disease dead works in the Conscience are of two sorts Guilt and Lust c. But to awaken every mans Conscience to get it purged take these considerations First By nature every mans Conscience is defiled Tit. 1.15 Heb. 9.14 the blood of Christ comes upon no mans Conscience but it finds it polluted with dead works for whether we consider either the guilt or the defilement of sin it 's the Conscience that is the main receptacle of it the guilt is laid up there Jer. 17.1 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of Iron and with the point of a Diamond it is spoken de summo indelibili reatu it was written upon their Consciences and upon the horns of their Altars nec deleri potest nec latere for it did appear upon every Altar and every new act of sin adds unto the defilement of Conscience that 's the Tophet the Golgotha of the soul men of corrupt Consciences are graves though they appear not so Now when a man shall consider how our iniquities are gone over our heads and are more in number then the hairs of our head and even answerable to the sand upon the Sea shore innumerable What filthy polluted Consciences must such men needs have Secondly Consider what a miserable thing it is for a man to have a polluted Conscience First It breaks a mans peace the inward man is never quiet Isa 57.21 There is no peace says my God to the wicked It is as Austin compares it to a bad wife that when a man hath met with hard labour abroad trouble and afflictions from without and retires himself and hopes to find some comfort at home but there he has never a quiet hour this is more troublesome then any of his outward crosses can be for it is an evil Wife that 's a continual droping so is Conscience Fugiet ab agro ad civitatem à publico ad domum à domo ad cubiculum sequitur tribulatio Secondly It imbitters all a mans comforts a good Conscience will sweeten every cross Paul and Silas can sing in the stocks Ubi cunque alibipassus est tribulationes illuc confugiet ibi inveniet Deum c. and the Martyrs rejoyce a the stake for whensoever any man suffers tribulation for keeping a good Conscience thither God hastens and finds him and makes him rejoyce in the testimony of his Conscience so an evil Conscience will imbitter every comfort Paul can stand with boldness at the Barr when Felix doth tremble on the Bench there is no state can secure a man that has an evil Conscience his comforts will not secure him they will all be imbittered take the choycest pleasures of sin that any man of you doth injoy it is this adds Water to your Wine and adds a tincture of Gall and Wormwood to all your sweetness and delicacies There is an evil spirit that comes upon Saul from the Lord and what is that Turbatur iâ—i anima Conscientia immoderata tristitia a diabolo excitata and when God did suffer Satan to come in and disquiet his Conscience all the comforts of a kingdome could not sweeten such a mans spirit neither can he have any sweetness in them all Thirdly It takes away a mans courage a good Conscience makes a man to be as bold as a Lyon and he can set his face as a Rock let the storm come and yet the Rock shakes not and he is not afraid of evil tideings but the wicked flyes when none pursues them and indeed they need no other pursuer for there is within them Lethalis arundo as a Deer that is shot may run but still carries his misery with him and as Cain surely every one that meets me will slay me Gen. 11.4 Herod when he heard of the fame of Jesus he says surely it is John the Baptist he is risen from the dead and therefore mighty works shew forth themselves in him Fourthly It unfits a man for every duty for the guilt of it arising in the Conscience stops a mans mouth and shuts up his heart before the Lord brings him into the presence of God as a Malefactor into the presence of the Judg with a vail upon his face and pollutes all his services his prayer is turned into sin for all things are defiled unto them whose Consciences are defiled Tit. 1.15 Fifthly A man cannot promise himself any acceptance or success in any thing he does Mal. 3.4 He shall purge them as silver and then shall their sacrifices be pleasant unto the Lord c. and Psal 51.13 Open thou my lips then shall I teach transgressours thy way c. God may indeed work great things by men of polluted Consciences but they cannot promise themselves success in any thing that they undertake till their Consciences be purged Sixthly Thou art in a continual fear and expectation when God will awaken it as he surely will do for sin lyes at the dore but between a godly man and sin there is a wall that will never open but between a wicked man and sin there is a dore that though it may be shut long it will open at last and an evil Conscience it is that watcheth at the dore till the man dare look out miserrimum est talem habere janitorum Luther A Spirit of slumber upon a man and a seared Conscience is a great judgment but it will not last allways it is at farthest but for the time of this Life and then the callumne upon Conscience shall be worne off and the slumber cast away and it shall be awakened so as never to sleep again Read the story of Cain and Belteshazar of Judas and of Spira c. Nay Lay your ears to Hell a while and hear the clamours of polluted Consciences there and you shall see that the greatest plague that can befall a man in this life is to be left unto the power of an evil Conscience so that you had need to seek to have your Consciences purged and this is specially to be considered of you that are grown old in wickedness and whose bones are still full of the sins of your youth having been laying in defilement into your Consciences long surely all this filth the sink and sodoms of vanity
God but Christs righteousness did please him in him his soul delights and is well pleased sin blotted out Gods Image in man Christ restored it again we were full of all unrighteousness and he fulfilled all righteousness my sins are all hainous but greater were charged upon Christ he was a sufferer as a Traytor a blasphemer a Drunkard a Seducer a Conjurer a Devil he was made sin for us he made his grave with the wicked and thy heart was very wicked and full of enmity when thou didst commit sin but Christs heart was holy and full of love to God when he satisfied for it thou didst delight in sin and so did Christ delight to suffer he was payned till his sufferings were ended thou didst sin openly at such a time and such a place c. The Lord suffered without the gate openly in the view of all and as thy sin is the greatest sin so is his most shamefull suffering in the most solemn time as it were before all the world and in a most infamous place as the greatest malefactor as it were at Tyburne and for the company he suffered in it was between two Theeves c. when a soul is able to silence the guilt and clamour of his Conscience by answering all that Conscience can object by finding out something in the righteousness and satisfaction of Christ to answer it and faith is not nonplussed truly this is a work of an almighty power for while men go on in the pleasures of sin so long sin is nothing sin sits with no weight upon them but when their Conscience is awakened to it by and by their spirits are overwhelmed with it as Judas was now for a man to see sin in its utmost dimensions and not to spare and be streightned in his humiliation and yet when Conscience has said its worst yet for him to be able to look into Christ and see something in him that shall answer all its accusations with as great strength of spiritual reason as the other can be objected and for a mans soul to be stay'd by such thoughts when he is even going down to the pit this is an almighty power Thirdly When a man is convinced of sin and sees himself to be an undone man knows not whether God will be mercifull unto him or no he walks in darkness in point of justification and yet his heart is kept in a constant awe of sinning against God he would do nothing that should displease him for a world his darling lust doth yield and strike sail to the contrary grace Sam. 50.10.11 he fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant he would do nothing that should displease him for a world and yet he knows not whether he shall find mercy with him or no but his soul takes up an unchangeable resolution against sin and sayes I will walk no more in a way of sinning saved or damned I will be willing to obey him and count it my happiness to do him service and I will be willing to wait upon him let him do with me as it seems good in his sight if casting a mans self upon Christ make a man fear to sin against him there is an almighty power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that all the power of a natural Conscience will never make the man to yield up his darling-lust as there is a Conscience moleste mala full of perplexity in respect of guilt and the purging of the Conscience therein lies in its pacification when a man looking upon sin in its greatness and exceeding sinfulness and yet can see 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the satisfaction of Christ unto which as a City of refuge he flyes being pursued Heb. 6.18 and upon that he casts himself and pleads it before the judgment seat of God that the debt is paid and the surety acquited and this he doth either by an act of recombancy and reliance or else by an act of assurance as the Lord is pleased to clear his interest and so the man is for ever perfected according to his Conscience that is Heb. 9.6 though sin doth cleave to him and the guilt of sin may by Satan be presented to him yet conscience flying unto Christ for a refuge and finding in him a perfect satisfaction the man casts all upon his surety and his Conscience is calm and serene as a man himself indebted must needs be when he knows that his surety hath paid his debt and though there be a dayly application of this unto the soul yet there is but one oblation and the man upon this ground hath no more Conscience of sin in respect of the guilt of it for ever and this pacification of the Conscience is the perfection of the man c. But there is a Conscience also that is vitiose mala full of the defilement and pollution of sin 1 Tit. 1.15 All evil is put under too heads malum triste afflicting evil or malum turpe defiling evil and sin has in it both these as it binds a man over unto all afflicting evil so there is a guilt and as it doth fill a man with all polluting evil so there is a defilement a macula a stain and filthiness of sin and it hath all the filthiness in the World in it it is leprosy pollution in blood a sepulcher and the rottenness thereof it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very excrement of wickedness Jam. 1.21 that if there could be any thing more filthiness then naughtiness it self it is sin it has defaced the image of God and the native beauty of the soul and it hath brought upon a man positive filthiness even the image of the Devil and the dreadful marks of hellish deformity that cannot be washed away with Niter and much Sope Jer. 17.1 Though this be an universal pollution that overspreads the whole man defiles body and soul and spirit yet the main defilement of sin lyes in the Conscience and where every sin doth add to the pollution as every act intends the habit above all the faculties the defilement of the Conscience is increased thereby Now the great pollution of the soul lyes in a spirit of slumber Conscience letting a man commit evil and not to tell him it is evil and in his sencelesness under sin Isa 29.10 Ephes 4.19 Being bribed by Lust and passions and pleasures to give consent to a sin and to plead for it for Conscience to pass sentence for a sin and that in the name of God 1 Joh. 16.2 and say that it is a duty and stirs up a man to it which it may be is one of the greatest sins of his Life Conscience pleads for sin and excuses a man falsly speaking peace to a man in a corrupt and cursed state saying I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of mine heart to add drunkenness to thirst c. In a reprobate sense to be in such a mind that Conscience approves things that
are evil and the false reasonings of sin in the Conscience the man cannot see men are given over to believe the lyes of their own spirits and cannot say is there not a lye in my right hand and a seared Conscience with a hot Iron that man despises the threatning and judgment of God 1 Tim. 4.9 and is wholly insensible as seared flesh And all this defilement is not brought into the Conscience from without but grows out of it by custome in sinning And the ground of it is because Conscience is the highest faculty and has the highest office in the man and therefore it is by corruption of the Conscience that all the rest of the faculties are so exceedingly corrupted as they are because Conscience doth not its duty and therefore God will mainly lay load upon the Conscience after this life as this had the main hand in defiling the man so it shall be the great instrument in tormenting the man for could men walk on in sin as they do if Conscience did its duty if it did instruct suggest accuse truly as in the name of God and never excuse but upon grounds from the judgment that God gives of things c. The great pollution of the whole soul flows from the pollution of the Conscience and therefore when the Papists do crowd down the defilement of the soul unto the inferiour faculties the affections and passions as if they were the sink of the soul and all the filthiness were swept down upon them but as for the understanding the will they are in a great measure free the Mistress or Lady in the soul and if a light be brought into the understanding the will has a power to follow and so say the Arminians also and it is a doctrine that spreads much amongst us so when you hear Divines say that of all the faculties the Conscience is the least polluted take heed of it for the main filthiness of thy soul lyes there And the reason that is commonly given is because Conscience in the worst men doth many times take part with God against sin when Lust carries a man and his will is very violently bent upon it but consider in an unregenerate man this doth not proceed from the purity of his Conscience even at that time when it doth take part with God but because there is the spirit of God comes in and stirs up Conscience and lays a command upon it and forceth it to do its duty which it would be glad to let alone and let Lust revel in it without controle it would surely gratify the affection it has to Lust but that the spirit of God comes in and over-aws the Conscience and doth awaken and terrify it and force it to speak and therefore it doth not any more argue the purity of Conscience then Balaams blessing of the people of Israel in the wilderness did argue his love to Israel whom he did earnestly desire to have cursed and did greedily follow after the wayges of unrighteousness but that the Lord held a strickt hand upon his Convcience that he durst not sin in it being over-awd but it was no thanks to Balaam And so it is here no thanks to Conscience which is corrupt and will by degrees grow insencible and incourage a man desperately in a way of sinning even to despight of the spirit of Gods grace Now How shall this defilement be purged all these dead works how shall they be cleansed It is by the blood of Christ First From the Holyness of his nature as he is our Head For by the blood of Christ is meant all his active and passive obedience and in his active obedience the holyness of his nature must be taken in as he was man he received the spirit He had a union and an unction from the free grace of the Father calling him to this great work and by a glorious sovereignty appointed Christ to be the head of his Church and the second Adam to stand in their stead to perform all for them and to receive all for them c. So he did receive the spirit as an unction from the Father Isa 42.1 I will put my spirit upon him he shall be cloathed with the Holy Ghost and put it on as a garment and this spirit he doth receive as a head that he may disperse it for the infinite holyness of the Divine nature could no more be communicated then the infinite righteousness of the Divine nature could be imputed and therefore he must perform perfect obedience in his humane nature for our justification that it may be imputed to us and he must receive perfect holiness in his humane nature for our sanctification that it may be imparted to us John 17.19 For their sakes I sanctify my self that is recieved a spirit of sanctification that it might be unto them a principle of holiness and the fountain of their sanctification also which I conceive to be meant by the Law of the spirit of life that is in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death Rom. 8.2 What is the Law of sin and death It is the power of sin to condemnation defiling and destroying and what is the Law of the spirit of Life it is put for the powerful and commanding work of the living and the quickning spirit of Christ and this Law not as it is in us but as it is in Christ it is this that frees us both in respect of justification and of sanctification also from the law of sin to defile and rule and also to condemn and to destroy and thus from the holiness of the nature of Christ it comes to pass that the same spirit that was in him is conveyed unto us his union did abundantly sanctifie him in himself it being persoual and therefore there was an inpeccability the actus est suppositi but his unction was for us he had a fulness of the spirit as he was our surety he paid our debt and as our head so he received a spirit for us and dispenced it to us c. thus you see the sanctification of the humane nature of Christ doth purge a mans Conseience from dead works even the Law of the spirit of life that is in Christ Jesus makes us free from the Law of sin Secondly There is in the blood of Christ a causa meritoria and it doth meritoriously purge the Couscience for though there was the fulness of all grace in the humane nature of Christ yet it could never have been conveyed unto us without a satisfaction had gone before God must be satisfied that men might be sanctified for there is in the sufferings of Christ two things First The payment of a debt Secondly There is a redundancy of merit some thing must be procured for man non solum instauratus est Aust sed melioratus à peccatis ablutus instauratus est in caeteris melioratus Aust Tom. 4.9 123. p. 613. First It