Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
conscience_n	duty_n	good_a	note_n	1,053	5	9.6415	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A64002	The riches of Gods love unto the vessells of mercy, consistent with his absolute hatred or reprobation of the vessells of wrath, or, An answer unto a book entituled, Gods love unto mankind ... in two bookes, the first being a refutation of the said booke, as it was presented in manuscript by Mr Hord unto Sir Nath. Rich., the second being an examination of certain passages inserted into M. Hords discourse (formerly answered) by an author that conceales his name, but was supposed to be Mr Mason ... / by ... William Twisse ... ; whereunto are annexed two tractates of the same author in answer unto D.H. ... ; together with a vindication of D. Twisse from the exceptions of Mr John Goodwin in his Redemption redeemed, by Henry Jeanes ...	Twisse, William, 1578?-1646.; Jeanes, Henry, 1611-1662. Vindication of Dr. Twisse.; Goodwin, John, 1594?-1665.	1653 (1653)	Wing T3423; ESTC R12334	968,546	592

to permit him to sinne in what kind or degree soever to expose him to any degree of condemnation or as if the Creator hath not power to doe what he will with his creature any more than an Usurer hath over his poore brother or Saul over David or the like Thus the consideration of his third reason I have brought to an end I come to the Fourth DISCOURSE The Fourth Reason It is prejudiciall to Piety SECT I. MY Fourth Generall against absolute reprobation is It is a hinderance of Piety it serveth to discourage holinesse and encourage prophanenesse It makes Ministers negligent in Preaching Praying and every duty else that tends to the eternall good of their People It makes people carelesse also of hearing reading praying instructing their families examining their consciences fasting and mourning for their sinnes and all other godly exercises In a word it cuts asuder in my opinion the very sinewes of religion and pulls away the strongest inducements to an holy life Therefore it is no true and wholsome doctrine That it doth so it will appeare these two waies that follow 1. It takes away Hope and Feare Hope of attaining any good by Godlinesse Feare of sustaining any hurt by wickednesse and so it takes away two principall props of Religion This reason may be resolved into two branches Hope and Feare uphold Godlinesse Were it not for these it would fall to ruine by these are men strongly led on to vertue and with-held from vice 1. Hope doth excitare stirre men up to beginne and corroborare strengthen in the doing of any good action begunne By this hope of heaven did our Saviour stirre up himselfe to endure the Crosle and despise the shame Heb. 12 By this he heartned his Disciples to doe and suffer for his sake Math. 5. 11. Abraham left his Country and kindred at Gods call because he looked for a Citty whose builder and maker was God Heb. 11. 8 9 10. Moses left all the pleasures and treasures of Aegypt and endured afflictions with the people of God because he saw him that was invisible v. 27. The Martyrs endured racks gibbets Lyons sword fire with a world of other torments because they looked for a better resurrection v. 35. Paul endeavours alwaies to keep a good conscience through the hope of a blessed resurrection Acts 24. 15. All the heroicall acts of active and passive obedience have sprung from the hope of a weight of glory Husbandmen Souldiers Merchants are all whetted on by hope to diligence in their callings as daily experience shewes Hope saith Aquinas confert ad operationem and he proveth it first by Scripture 1 Cor. 9. 10. He which Eareth and Thresheth must Eare and Thresh in hope And then by a twofold reason 1. From the Nature of hopes object Bonum arduum possible some excellent good attainable by industry Existimatio ardut excitat attentionem hope to get that by paines which is conceived to be a thing of worth stirres up to paines taking 2. From the effect of hope which is delectatio an inward pleasure which the party that lives under hope is affected with by his hope There is no man which hath an inward contentment and satisfaction of heart in the work that he hath to doe but goes on merrily The hope of Heaven therefore is a great encouragement to piety 2. The feare of Hell also is a strong curb to hold men in from Wickednesse and therefore saith one God hath planted in men a feare of vengeance that by it as the ship by the rudder the soule may be presently turn'd aside from any rocks or gulfes or quick-sands of sinne when it is neere them and so may steere its course another way For this cause feare of God and abstaining from evill are often joyned together in Scripture Job 1. 1. Exod. 1. 17. And the want of this feare is made the root of all licentiousnesse in sinning Gen. 20. 11. Nor doth feare only hinder a bad action but it promotes a good It hinders a bad action directly because it is fuga mali a flying from that evill of misery which is annexed to the evill of sinne and it promotes a good action accidentally because men think that they are never so safe from the mischiefe which they feare as when they are exercised in such imployments as tend to the getting of a contrary state Worke out your salvation saith the Apostle with feare and trembling implying that the working out of salvation goes not on handsomly except the fear of missing it be an ingredient to the work The second branch of this Reason is That by the absolute decree Feare and hope are taken away For hope is properly exercised about Bonum futurum possibile haberi some good thing that may be obtained not a good thing that must be obtained of necessity and the object of feare is malum possibile vitari an evill that may be escaped For metus est fuga mali feare is a flying from evill and therefore supposeth that the evill is avoydable for no man will fly from an evill that cannot be prevented but will yeild himselfe up to it as Caesar did to the murtherers in the Senate house Now by this decree Heaven and Hell are not objecta possibilia but necessaria Heaven shall unavoydably be obtained by those that are elected and Hell must as certainly be endured by those that in Gods eternall purpose are rejected For men have no power to alter their eternall states all men by this decree are precisely determined ad unum to one state to necessary salvation or necessary damnation without any power or liberty to choose whether And from hence the conclusion is cleere that the absolute decree takes away the chiefest inducements to holinesse and determents from wickednesse and consequently hinders a Godly life exceedingly TWISSE Consideration TRavailers report of the Territory of Venice that the farther they goe into it the stronger and stronger they find it But such is not the condition of this Authors discourse for the farther I wade into it the weaker and weaker it appeares And to this I answer first in generall That our Brittaine Divines make answer to the like crimination made against our Doctrine upon the 5. Article p. 168. according to the English translation of it saying Both Gods truth and mans experience easily wipe off this aspersion For this Christian perswasion of perseverance and salvation not only in respect of its own nature but also according to the very event in the Church doth by Gods blessing produce a quite contrary effect First in respect of the thing it selfe The certainty of the end doth not take away but establish the use of the meanes And the same holy men who upon sure grounds promise unto themselves both constancy in the way of this Pilgrimage and fruition of God in their everlasting home know also that these are not obtained without performance of the duties of holinesse and the avoydance of

with as much art and cunning as can be will not fasten upon them With David they say in their feare that all men are lyars namely all such as come to comfort them in their temptation And the reason is because it is an opinion incompatible with any word of comfort that can be ministred to the distressed soule in this temptation Gods love to mankind Christs death for all mankind and the calling of poore sinners without exception to repentance or salvation with all other grounds of consolation the tempted will easily elude with the grounds of his opinion which that we may the better see let us imagine that we heare a Minister and a tempted soule reasoning in this or the like manner Tempted Woe is me I am a castaway I am absolutely rejected from Grace and glory Minister Discourage not thy selfe thou poore afflicted soule God hath not cast thee off For he hateth nothing that he hath made but bears a love to all men and to thee amongst the rest Tempted God hateth no man as he is his creature but he hateth a great many as they are involv'd in the first transgression and become guilty of Adams sinne And God hath a two-fold love as I have learned a generall love which puts forth it selfe in outward and temporall blessings only and with this he loved all men And a speciall love by which he provideth everlasting life for men and with this he loves only a very few which out of his alone will and pleasure he singled from the rest Under this generall love am I not the speciall Minister God so loves all men as that he desires their eternall good for the Apostle saith he would have all to be saved and he would have no man perish nor thee in particular Tempted All is taken two waies for all sorts and conditions of men high and low rich and poore bond and free Jew and Gentile and for all particular men in those severall sorts and conditions God would have all sorts of men to be saved but not all particular men of these sorts some of my Country and my calling c. but not all or mee in particular Or if it be true that God would have all particular men to be saved yet he wills it only with a revealed Will not with a secret will for with that he will have a great company to be damned absolutely Under this revealed will am I not the secret Minister Christ came into the World to seeke and to save what was lost and is a propitiation not for our sinnes only idest the sinnes of a few particular men or the sinnes of all sorts of men but for the sinnes of the whole world therefore he came to save thee for thou wast lost and to be a propitiation for thy sinnes for thou art part of the whole world Tempted The World as I have heard is taken two waies in Scripture largely for all mankind and strictly in a more restrained signification for the elect or for believers Or if it be true that he dyed for all mankind yet he dyed for them but after a sort he dyed for them all dignitate pretii he did enough to have redeemed all if God would have had it so but he did not dye for all voluntate propositi God never intended that he should shed his bloud for all and every man but for a few select ones only with whom it is my lot not to be numbred Minister God hath founded an universali Covenant with men upon the blood of Christ thy Mediator and therefore he intended it should be shed for all men universally He hath made a promise of salvation to every one that will believe and excludes none that doe not exclude themselves Tempted God purposed his Sonne should dye for all men and that in his name an offer of remission of sinnes and salvation should be made to every one but yet upon this condition that they will doe that which he meanes the greatest part of them shall never doe idest Repent and Believe nor I among the rest Minister God hath a true meaning that all men who are called should repent and believe that so they might be saved as he would have all to be saved so to come to the knowledge of the truth and as he would have no man to perish so he would have all men to repent and therefore he calls them in the Preaching of the word to the one as well as to the other Tempted God hath a double call an outward call by the Preaching of the word an inward call by the irresistible work of the spirit in mens hearts The outward call is a part of Gods outward will with that he calls every man to believe the inward and effectuall call is a part of his secret will and with that he doth not call every man to believe but a very few only whom he hath infallibly and inevitably ordained to eternall life And therefore by the outward will which I enjoy among many others I cannot be assured of Gods good will and meaning that I shall believe repent and be saved By this we may see that no sound comfort can be fastned upon a poore soule rooted in this opinion when he lyes under this horrible temptation The example of Francis Spira an Italian Lawyer will give some farther light and proofe to this This Spira about the yeare 1548 against his knowledge and conscience did openly abjure his religion and subscribe to Popery that thereby he might preserve his life and goods and liberty Not long after he fell into a deep distresse of Conscience out of which he could never wrestle but ended his woefull daies in despaire To comfort him came many Divines of worth and note but against all the comforts that they applyed unto him he opposed two things especially 1. The greatnesse of his sinne It was a sinne of a deep dye commited with many urging and aggravating circumstances and therefore could not be forgiven This argument they quickly took from him and convinced him by the example of Peter that there was nothing in his sinne that could make it irremissible Peter that committed the same sinne and with more odious circumstances repented and was pardoned and so no doubt might he 2 He opposed his absolute reprobation and with that he put off all their comforts Peter saith he repented and was pardoned indeed because he was elected as for me I was utterly rejected before I was borne and therefore I cannot possibly repent or be saved If any man be elected he shall be saved though he have committed sinnes for number many and haynous in degree but if he be ex repudiatis one of the castawaies necessario condemnabitur though his sinnes be small and sew Nihil interest an multa an pauca an magna an parva sint quando nec Dei misericordia nec sanguis Christi quicquam ad eos pertinet A reprobate must be damned be his sinnes many or few