other text is 1. Pet. 3.21 The answer of ãâã good conscience towards God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ Where the Apostle first giveth this title to a renewed conscience to be called a good conscience Secondly he nameth the cause that maketh it to be good the power of Christs resurrection When the resurrection of Christ Jesus is powerfulâ upon us then conscience becometh good 5. The fifth is quietnesse By nature âothing is so fierce and violent if it be ânce awaked as conscience is O it is ânspeakably furious Thus is consciânce by nature and therefore it can neâer be good untill we get it appeased with the assurance of the pardon of our âinnes and so true peace and comfort âstablished in it This is the reason why âhe Scripture joyneth a good consciânce and faith so often together as â Tim. 3.9 Holding the mysterie of faith ân a pure conscience It cannot be a pure or good conscience if faith be not held ân it As long as the conscience is not ânderpropped by faith the conscience must needs be in a wildernesse Perhaps my sinnes are imputed unto me perhaps âhey are pardoned Perhaps they are coverâd perhaps not As long as the conscience lieth under these uncertainties it cannot be firm and foundly good indeed therefore we must labour for assurance of pardon by faith Thus much of a good renewed conscience that is perfectly and soundly renewed An infirm conscience II. Secondly There is a good conscience renewed but not soundly renewed very much as yet defective and imperfect The former conscience is called conscientia firma a firm conscience This is called conscientia infirma an infirm conscience Rom. 15.1 We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak This infirm conscience is a good conscience too and renewed but cumbred with sundry imperfections which in processe of time by growth in grace are for the most part conquered in the godly True faith is required unto this For the Apostle calleth such an one a brother in Christ one that hath this infirm conscience Rom. 14.21 It is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth And we must not set such an one at nought Tush what care I for him I know I may lawfully do thus and this is my Christian liberty and shall I lose it for him because of his conscience Nay saith the Apostle Rom. 14.10 Why dost thou set at nought thy brother Mark The Apostle counteth such an one a Christian brother and not to be set at nought and therefore this is a good conscience too differing as much as white from black from such consciences as are weak through superstition of mind and through pride of heart because they will not be otherwise or through affected ignorance because they love not to be better informed These weak consciences are wicked I speak not of these I speak of a good conscience a conscience renewed but renewed imperfectly having yet sundry defects and imperfections The imperfections of it are 1. Imperfection of knowledge It doth not yet soundly and clearly understand what is lawfull and what is pure and what is by Christian liberty indifferent Paul saith Rom. 14.14 I know and am perswaded by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of it self but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean to him it is unclean He speaketh of things that are indifferent The Apostle had knowledge but there were others who did not know this O I may not eat this meat I may not play at bowls or use any other recreation I should sinne if I should c. This is one weaknesse in this kind of conscience weaknesse of knowledge 2. The second imperfection is to be grieved where it needeth not be grieved As when it seeth other do that which it self through mistake doth judge to be evil it is apt to be grieved and troubled to see it Rom. 14.15 If thy brother be grieved with thy meat now walkest thou not charitably It may be thou thinkest it lawfull to eat such meat but he thinketh otherwise and so is grieved to see thee eat This is another imperfection in this conscience to be grieved and offended without just cause 3. A third imperfection is in judgement It is apt to judge and condemn another mans liberty 1. Cor. 10.29 Why is my liberty judged of another mans conscience He speaketh of a weak conscience It is apt to be judging and condemning my liberty saith he but why so This is a fault and an imperfection indeed O such an one sinneth he doeth so and so yet it may be the thing is not unlawfull but a weak conscience is apt so to judge it and to condemn him that doeth it Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not and let not him that eateth not judge him that eateth Rom. 14.3 4. A fourth imperfection is this A weak conscience is apt to be misled So the Apostle intimateth Take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling-block unto them that are weak for if any man see thee who hast knowledge sit at meat in the idoles temple shall not the conscience of him that is weak be emboldned to eat those things which are offered to idoles and through thy knowledge shall thy weak brother perish for whom Christ died 1. Cor. 8.9 10 11. Where ye see that weak consciences are apt to be misled The reason is this Because when they see others whom they know to be more learned and judicious then themselves to do so and so that may soon tempt them to do it though their conscience be against it Vse 1 The first use is this If any have weak consciences let them labour to strengthen them Ye see what imperfections are in a weak conscience how apt it is to be offended and to judge other mens liberty how prone to misleading therefore let every good soul labour to be strengthened Vse 2 The second use is this Those that be strong must be carefull that they offend not the weak Though they do believe such and such Christian liberties they have yet if they know the use of them will offend their weak brother they should be carefull to abstein Rom. 14.13 Let no man put a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in his brothers way Vse 3 Thirdly if it be such a sinne to sinne against the conscience of the weak then what a sinne is it to sinne against the conscience of all that are godly whether weak ones or strong ones Ye who walk after the flesh and can have disorders in your families and vanity in your mouths and apparent corruptions in your lives Ye who can drink and be drunken and keep company and prophane the Lords dayes ye offend the consciences of all that are godly it is a grief to their souls to see it Let me tell you It is a sinne to be wicked
of this faithfull servant of God by making this book a means to bring thy soul to those heavenly joyes which are at Gods right hand for evermore which are joyes unspeakable and glorious so great that * Tanta est dulcedo coelestis gaudii ut si una guttula difflueret in infernum totam amaritudinem inferni absorberet as S. Augustine saith If one drop of the joyes of heaven should fall into hell it would swallow up all the bitternesse of Hell And that God would make you heirs of this joy is the prayer of your soul-friend Edm. C. An Enquiry after a mans estate before God Coloss 4.8 WHat a mans estate before God is pag. 1 Ministers are to enquire after the estate of their people pag. 4 Every man is either in an estate of grace or sinne pag. 11 This estate may be known pag. 16 Why every man ought to enquire after his own estate pag. 20 Means whereby a man may come to know what estate he is in pag. 23 Impediments which hinder this knowledge pag. 27 Motives to be diligent in this enquirie pag. 29 2. A treatise of Conscience Rom. 2.15 WHat conscience is pag. 31 I. Proposition There is in every man a conscience pag. 33 Why the Lord did plant a conscience in every man pag. 36 II. Proposition The light that conscience acts by is knowledge 1. of Gods law 2. of our selves pag. 41 The great necessity of knowledge pag. 43 III. Proposition The office of conscience is to bear witnesse accusing or excusing pag. 49 1. Foure properties of this witnesse-bearing It is 1. Supreme pag. 51 2. Impartiall pag. 52 3. Faithfull pag. 53 4. Privie pag. 55 2. The parts of this witnesse-bearing I. It s single witnessing 1. What we have done pag. 57 2. What we intend to do pag. 58 3. What is the bent of our hearts ibid. II. It s judiciall bearing witnesse pag. 64 1. About things to be done or omitted Where are considered 1. It s Office 1. To judge pag. 68 2. To counsel pag. 69 2. Its Adjuncts It is either 1. Illightned pag. 76 2. Erroneous pag. 78 3. Doubting pag. 85 4. Scrupulous pag. 88 5. Faithfull pag. 95. or 6. Vnfaithfull pag. 104 2. About things alreadie done or omitted and here also 1. It s Office is 1. To approve pag. 116 2. To absolve pag. 117 3. To mislike pag. 119 4. To condemne pag. 121 2. Its Affections It is either 1. Tender pag. 125 2. Sleepie pag. 126 3. Benumbed pag. 127. or 4. Seared pag. 128 From all these proceed two other Adjuncts I. A quiet conscience concerning which is considered 1. What it is pag. 132 2. How that in the godly differeth from that in the wicked pag. 137 3. How to know whether we have it or no pag. 152 Where is handled Whether a child of God may fear death and how farre pag. 159 Whether a wicked man may be desirous to die and in what cases pag. 164 The great benefit of peace of conscience pag. 167 II. An unquiet conscience What it is and the causes of it pag. 173 The degrees of it pag. 178 The difference of it in the godly and in the wicked pag. 184 How a man may keep peace of conscience pag. 200 How it dependeth upon obedience pag. 205 What manner of obedience that is which peace of conscience dependeth upon pag. 211 What a man must do to be freed from a burdened and troubled conscience pag. 215 As conscience beareth witnesse of our actions so of our persons pag. 222 It can and doth inform every man what estate he is in pag. 223 How it doth this pag. 229 When it doth this pag. 232 Why many neverthelesse are deluded about their estate pag. 239 What a good conscience soundly renewed is pag. 247 What a weak and infirm good conscience is pag. 256 IV. Proposition The bond of conscience is the law of God pag. 267 1. The Primarie and supreme is Gods word pag. 270 Gods law bindeth the consciences of the regenerate pag. 281 2. The Secondarie and relative others or ourselves pag. 296 1. Others may bind our consciences as Magistrates Superiours and how farre pag. 297 2. We may bind our own consciences by lawfull vows and promises pag. 314 What vows are unlawfull and not binding pag. 315 Of the vow made to God in baptisme how great it is and how much to be regarded pag. 318 An Enquiry after a mans estate before God COLOSS. 4.8 Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose that he may know your estate and comfort your hearts THE estate of a man before God is the relation that he standeth in unto God What a mans estate before God is as God is the free fountain of spirituall life and salvation and the âterminer of mens everlasting condiâons either in heaven or hell So that âen we question about a mans estate ãâã question Whether he be in Christ ãâã not Whether he have true grace ãâã or no Whether he be one of Gods âldren or no or whether he be yet ãâã better then a reprobate There be three things to be considered in this definition of every man estate First it is a relation unto God not as a man is in himself it may bâ rich it may be poore in the world buâ I speak here as he is in relation toward God Whether he be rich toward God yea or no. I do not speak as man is in regard of others it may bâ he is a father or a sonne a master oâ a servant a king or a subject but iâ relation to God Whether Gods servant or no Rom. 16.10 Gods child or no. Saluâ Apelles saith Paul and he telleth us iâ what estate Apelles was in before Goâ namely in an estate of approbatioâ approved in Christ And the same Apostle speaketh on the contrary of thâ unconverted Gentiles that they werâ strangers from the life of God Ephes 4 18. Ephes 4.18 Secondly As it is a relation untâ God so it is a standing relation Thaâ wherein he standeth towards God thaâ is a mans estate before God There a difference between one that doth ãâã and one that is in the state of sin ãâã child of God may sinne but he is nââ in a state of sinne you cannot call hiâ a wicked man So also there is difference between one that doeth some good actions and one that is in a good estate A carnall man may do some good âhings but he is not in a good estate The estate of a man is a standing thing it is the relation that he standeth in towards God Thirdly It is the relation that a man standeth in towards God as he is the free fountain of spirituall life and salvation It is not every standing relation towards God For a man may be considered in relation to God as a Creatour and so the heavens and the earth and the very brute beasts stand in relation to God as they are his
lose our minds in the things of this life but this peace doth keep them upon God we should lose our hearts upon our profits and pleasures and affairs in the world but the peace of conscience doth keep them upon heaven Phil. 4.7 The peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds This doth the peace and quiet of a good conscience but the quiet of a wicked mans conscience doth not do thus it keepeth not his mind in this manner but it is upon earthly things for all that IV. They differ in respect of duration and continuauce The quiet of a good conscience is settled and grounded in the godly it never faileth them nor forsaketh them the other peace is fading Let a feeling sermon come and rifle carnall men it taketh away their peace from them their consciences then flie in their faces and then they see they are not right Let losse of outward things come light upon them or any other affliction it taketh their peace from them conscience then breaketh out upon them and sheweth them how they have deceived them selves with false peace especially at their death then an evil conscience that hath been quiet before in stead of comforting will affright and amaze them But if we have the quiet of a good conscience it will make us heare the word with comfort and not be troubled and disquieted by a searching sermon or the threatnings of Gods judgements Nay if we be in trouble this will quiet us if in affliction this will comfort us It will endure all ouâ life and be present at our death then especially it will shew it self a friend unto us in standing by us to chear and refresh us Psal 119.165 Great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offeââ them saith David nothing shall offend them or take away their peace it is anâ eternall and everlasting peace Thâ you have seen how the true and false peace of conscience differ But here cometh a question to ãâã answered and it is this Have all God children this peace of conscience I dare say some of you look for this question and long to have it answered I answer therefore No they have it not alwayes Job seemed one while not to have it I have sinned Job 7.20 saith his conscience what shall I do unto thee O thou preserver of men David seemed one while not to have it Mine iniquities are gone over my head as a heavie burden they are too heavie for me Psal 38.4 His sinnes lay heavie upon his conscience for a fit Hezekiah one while seemed not to have it Behold for peace I had great bitternesse And therefore I say the children of God have it not alwayes But let me tell you They might have it alwayes 1. It is possible they should have it alwayes Their sinnes of ignorance and infirmitie do not break the peace of their consciences cannot for if they could then no man should have true peace of conscience at any time Nothing but willing and witting sins sinnes against conscience can break the peace of conscience as it is possible for the children of God to live without these so it is possible for them alwaies to have peace yea they may have dayly more and more peace 2. As it is possible for the children of God alwayes to have peace so they are commanded to keep their peace alwayes and it is their own fault if at any time they lose it Job 22.21 Acquaint thy self with God and be at peace saith Eliphas Col. 3.15 So Let the peace of God rule in your hearts unto which ye are called We are not onely commanded to have peace in our hearts but also that it may rule there that no corruption perk over it to hinder it we are called to this peace and commanded to have it and therefore as it is a sinne in the common-wealth when one breaketh the peace so it is a sinne in the spirit to break the peace of conscience we are all bound to the peace 3. If the children of God have it not alwayes then they feel the want of it and in the want of that comfort nothing else will comfort them It is not all the peace and prosperitie of the world that can comfort their hearts as long as they have not this peace not all the mirth in the world can content them untill they enjoy this peace again the peace and quiet of a good conscience they faint for it and long after it they can have no strength without it Psal 29.11 The Lord will give strength unto his people the Lord will blesse his people with peace It is not so with corrupt hearts they can be without peace and yet never faint they can eat and drink for all that and sleep and be merry for all that yea and go about their profits and their earthly businesses as roundly as ever for all that But the children of God if they want the peace of conscience they have no strength to do any thing almost they faint till they have it again 4. The godly alwayes have the seeds of it in them Light is sown for the righteous Psal 97.11 and gladnesse for the upright in heart Mark it is sown in their hearts and it will spring up at one time or other to chear them and to comfort them As it is with the wicked they may seem now and then to have true peace but they have the seeds of horrour alwayes in them which will sprout forth at last and then they shall find the worm of an evil conscience again so on the contrarie side the godly may seem now and then to have no peace but yet they have alwayes the seeds of true peace in them which will in time shew themselves and solace their souls for ever 5. They never want peace as the wicked do want it The wicked want it and have no possibilitie of having it they go in such paths as wherein they shall never know peace Isai 59.8 such paths as will never lead them unto it still their conscience is able to say they are not right they are carnall and not spirituall they know no true peace of conscience neither can they But the children of God walk in such wayes as will bring them to true peace of conscience ere they have done By this ye see what a good and quiet conscience is It cannot be but that all must like it and wish O that we had it Beloved let us labour to get it and the assurance of it No blessing under heaven is like it It is a heaven upon earth Happie are they who can shew they have it and miserable are they who have it not Dulce nomen pacis Sweet and pleasant is the very name of peace especially of the peace of a good conscience If ye have it no misery can make you miserable and if ye have it not no happinesse can make
Ahab âd a quiet conscience but onely when âicaiah did preach Felix had a quiâconscience no doubt yet he tremâd to heare Paul preach of death and ãâã judgement Acts 24.25 One would we thought that Paul a prisoner âould rather have been afraid but âul had true peace of conscience and âerefore he could think and speak of âath with great comfort and of judgeâent with joy So could not Felix Beloved this is a strong signe of a saâ peace when some points of Gods woâ lay us flat and bereave us of our holâ Ye shall have many say O they haâ such peace and they have such a good coâscience as quiet as can be and as heaâ whole as can be By and by a souâ searching point cometh and ransackeâ them to the quick and they are goâ I confesse they go and get some unteâpered morter or other and dawb ãâã their consciences again but they ãâã gone for the time This is a stroââ signe of a rotten peace But a child â God can heare any point heare â death of judgement of any thing coâteined in the word with delight aâ comfort It is true he may be aâzed thereat but he is glad at heart tââ he heareth it and will make use ofâ be it mercy or judgement Sweet ãâã bitter points all are welcome to hiâ even the bitterest points are sweet ãâã him because God and he are at peaceâ and therefore he knoweth there is ãâã news from God but it is good IV. If our peace of conscience ãâã good it will heal that base fearfulnesse âhich is in many who dare not be in âe dark dare not go through a âurch-yard in the night Some will âake at the very shaking of a leaf as âe wicked in Job Job 15.21 which is nothing ât a guiltie conscience I grant this ârfulnesse is naturall to some yet I ãâã the true peace of conscience will âre it I do not say this is a reciproâll signe of true peace of conscience âr many wicked men may be bold âough but I say true peace of conâence will cure this immoderate fearânesse in the godly But here two questions are to be askâ I. Whether every true child of âod that hath true peace of conscience ân think of death with comfort and ãâã desirous to die Answ 1. Peace of conscience doth ât take away naturall fear It is the âture of every living creature to be veâ fearfull of death The Philosopher âlleth death ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the fearâllest thing of all fearfull things Bildad âlleth it the king of terrours Job 18.14 Nature loveth its own preservation and thereforâ feareth the destruction of it Peace oâ conscience doth not take away all thâ fear 2. Besides peace of conscienââ doth not take away alwayes all degreâ of slavish fear of death The reason iâ because peace of conscience may ãâã weak mixed with much troubles ãâã conscience For as faith may be veâ imperfect so peace of conscience mâ be in some very imperfect Good oâ Hilarion was very fearfull to die Hâ cried out to his soul when he lay on hâ death-bed O my soul hast thou servâ Christ these fourescore years and art thâ now afraid to die Again a mans loâ may be very imperfect 1. John 4.18 Perfect love iâdeed casteth out fear but imperfeââ love doth not Hezekiah had peaâ of conscience Remember Lord saith ãâã I have walked before thee in truth 2. Kings 20.3 ãâã with a perfect heart Mark He had tâ peace of a good conscience his coâscience told him he had a sincere heaâ and that his wayes pleased God yâ he was afraid to die I do not thinkâ was onely because he had no issuâ though that might be some reason of it â When a child of God is afraid to âie it is not so much for love of this âife as out of a desire to be better prepaâed This made David cry out O âpare me that I may recover strength Psal 39.13 beâore I go hence and be no more And so âob Let me alone Job 10.20 21. that I may take comâort a little before I go whence I shall not âeturn These good men were then âomething unwilling to die They âight have many reasons most likely âis was one That they might be betâer prepared and more fit and ready for âeir departure 4. Some of Gods âeople as these Job and David at âther times I say some of Gods peoââe have such marvellous peace with âod as that if it were Gods will they âad much rather die then live Phil. 1.23 I desire ãâã be dissolved saith Paul and to be with âhrist which is farre better It may be â regard of the church or the care of âeir children and charge God hath laid ân them they could be content to reâain still in the body neverthelesse âhey account their state after death much better and were it put to them whether to die or to live longer here they would choose death rather of the twain 1. Kings 19.4 Nay Elias requested for himselâ that he might die It is enough Lordâ take away my life Not that they lovâ death it self for death is evil in its owâ nature contrary to nature a badge oâ sinne but for the love they have to anâ the assurance they have of eternall lifâ after death 5. Nay there is no chilâ of God but may truly be said to lovâ death and to love the day of judgement and the appearing of Christ Jesus Divines use to put this as a signe of Godâ children Nay the Apostle maketh thiâ as a propertie of Gods children to lovâ Christs appearing I have fought a gooâ fight saith Paul I have finished mâ course There he telleth us of his owâ peace and then he telleth us of his reward 2. Tim. 4.8 From henceforth is laid up for ãâã a crown of righteousnesse which the Lorâ the righteous Judge shall give me in thââ day and not to me onely but to them also that love his appearing that is to alâ his children For all the children oâ God love the appearing of Jesus Christ to judgement Though all do not desire it with the same strength of faith âet all desire it with faith They beâieve that Christ hath destroyed him that âath the power of death Heb. 2.14 which is the deâil they believe Christ hath taken âway deaths sting which is sinne 1. Cor. 15.56 57. and ãâã allowed death up in victory and may âl say Thanks be unto God who hath giâen us victory through our Lord Jesus âhrist Neither do they so much queâon this as their faith to believe it âying Lord help our unbelief 6. Gods âildren have good reason to do so âd to check their own hearts whenâer they do otherwise Whenever any âstrust cometh they should check it âwn again whenever any fear ariâh they should say What I fear ââth which is a thing so precious Psal 116.15 Preâus in the sight of the
may be the preacheâ preacheth of holinesse and a wickeâ man heareth it But I have it not saitâ his conscience Mark his consciencâ interlineth It may be the preacher iâ preaching how desperately carelessâ men are of their souls how they look â every thing more then to them âonscience interlineth This is my âse It may be he is preaching against ââulterie This sinne I have comâitted saith a guiltie conscience or âgainst rushing upon Gods ordinances âithout preparation This is my constant âurse saith an evil mans conscience â may be the preacher is preaching of âonversion and becoming a new creaââre in Christ This I am yet to seek in âith conscience Thus conscience inâerlineth Though the man heareth on ââd it may be taketh little to heart yet âonscience interlineth a sudden information of his wretched estate Like a ãâã bird that flieth by or like a swiftâot arrow that is presently out of ââght so it may be a man taketh very âttle notice of it Acts 24.25 Like the forenamed âelix as Paul was preaching of righâeousnesse and temperance I have it not âith his conscience and of judgement âo come What shall I do then saith his âonscience Thus conscience interliâed and made him tremble on a sudden like a sudden shivering of a coâ or a sudden startle of a man affrighteâ and away it was gone quickly I bâseech you observe your own bosome Do ye not feel this now and then at sermon when ye heare it do not yoâ consciences interline our sermons aâ put in parentheses now and theâ When ye heare such and such a sinâ reproved condemned And this is â sinne saith conscience when ye heaâ these and these graces commended Anâ I never had these saith conscience wheâ ye heare these and these marks of a caânall estate And these or some of these aâ in me saith conscience do not you consciences interline in this manner As Paul was speaking to the ship-meâ concerning God his conscience diâ sweetly interline thus Acts 27.23 There stood by meâ this night an Angel of God whose I am saith his conscience And as he was writing to the Romanes Rom 1.9 God is my witnesse saith he whom I serve in my spirit But do not your consciences interline otherwise with you If they do I beseech you consider it Your consciences do then truly inform you of your ââten estates listen to them Secondly when conscience falleth a âoking Conscience choketh As for example in prayer wicked man prayeth But I do not âây right saith his conscience I humbly âeech thee O Lord Nay but I do not âeech humbly saith his conscience I âire to be sanctified and purged from my ânes Nay but I do not hunger after any âh thing saith conscience I do not conâe âe my sins right nor beg for grace right ãâã your consciences choke you thus âow your consciences inform you of âur estates Peradventure ye hardly ârceive this choking at all It is done a moment and it presently ceaseth âcause ye are not willing to heare it âd therefore it may be conscience doth by sudden flashes Num. 12.4 It is said the Lord ââke suddenly to Moses so often consciââce speaketh suddenly to men a word âd away As David saith of the wicâd God shall shoot an arrow at them and âey shall be wounded on a sudden So conâience shooteth a quick arrow and it âoundeth men in the twinkling of an eye and it is gone Lord have mââ upon us said one But I should not saâ vainly and in ordinary talk saith conscâence I do not hate this man for his hoâânesse and strictnesse But you do saiâ conscience And so when men are dâfending evil by arguments But this false saith conscience Thus conscienâ choketh on a sudden and is gone confesse generally the men of the worâ mark not these things They are sucâ sudden sparklings of conscience thâ men for the most part do not heâ them But these are Gods witnesseâ and men shall know one day they we truly informed of their estates by theâ instantaneous Items of conscience Thirdly when conscience shooter like a stitch in a mans side As for example Sometimes when men are aboâ their callings and their worldly businesse then cometh conscience like â sudden stitch in ones side and giveth them a twitch O how wordly am I saith conscience Shall I never get this worldly-mindednesse cured Many times conscience speaketh while men are working or playing or eating or buying or âling Fourthly so likewise when consciâce commenteth upon the judgements ãâã God Let an adulterer fall sick Yea âis is for mine adulterie saith consciâce Let a company-keeper be in âant of outward things Yea this is my âunkennesse saith conscience Jer. 4.18 This is ây wickednesse my way my doings which âve procured me these things this ague âis poverty this shame this discomfort âhus I have shewed you how consciânce doth inform the wicked of their âretched estate and when it doth it ãâã remaineth now that I speak someâhing of the fourth point IV. How cometh it to passe then âhat so many thousands mistake and âre ignorant and deluded about their eâtates 4. Why many are deluded about their estate The reason of this doubt is this Seeing conscience is able to inform eâery one what his estate is whether it be blessed or cursed and seeing also âhat conscience doth it and doth it by ârgument and hath its time when it doth it a man now would wonder that any should be ignorant of his estaââ when his own conscience doth tell hiâ how it is with him For answer I wilâ explain unto you two things 1. Thâ reasons why men are mistaken 2. Thâ reasons why they are mistaken thougâ conscience inform them First They build upon false ground which are not in Gods word Somâ are so foolish that they build upon onward things as health peace prosperitie successe and the like They prosper and all things go well with them and therefore sure God is at peacâ with them This is not so but they think so though Some again builâ upon grounds which men of corrupâ minds do give them or which they take from the common opinion oâ most thinking that to be faith and repentance which the most take so to be or which a teacher fit for their palaââ taketh so to be On the contrarie side weak Christians oftentimes mistake themselves by judging their estates to be bad because God letteth them be poor and mean and comfortlesse in the world Therefore they conclude God is angrie with them or that they are not that which they seem to themselves to be because they are so crossed in all outward things This is the first reason of errour in this kind Reas 2 2. A second reason is the not-right understanding of Gods word As when men judge of themselves by such places of Scripture as were not intended to be rules and to be of use to such ends as they apply them as
spirituall goodnesse left in the other faculties of the soul so neither in conscience But the naturall goodnesse which I mean is nothing else but the veracity of conscience whereby it is inforced according to the knowledge it hath to tell the truth Thus every wicked man hath a good conscience Their conscience is good in that sense their conscience hath this naturall goodnesse that it telleth them the truth how it is with them Nay it is essentiall to conscience to be good in this sense It is the essentiall property of conscience to speak according to its knowledge It is the best faculty a wicked man hath it is better then his mind or heart or will There is more goodnesse in a wicked mans conscience then in any other of the powers of his soul His conscience speaketh more for God then himself doth and standeth more for God then himself will Not but that as all the powers of the soul are desperately corrupted by sinne so conscience is desperately corrupted as well as any of them but I speak of the essentiall goodnesse of it which can never be lost The deâls in hell have not lost the goodnesse â their essence Nay their essence is âetter then the essence of Gods Saints ââeir essence must be good because that â God 's creature nay better then any âans essence because the Lord made ââem a degree above man And as man â a degree above beasts so angels are degree above man so conscience is a âegree above other powers of the soul â its naturall goodnesse That consciâce hath such a naturall goodnesse in it âe it in those cursed Scribes and Phariâes hypocrites who brought the woâan taken in adultery to Christ Their âonscience was good John 8.9 they were convictââ of their consciences their conscienâes dealt honestly with them and told âhem the truth that they were wicked âânners themselves This is the naturall âoodnesse in conscience 2. A renewed good conscience I âll it a renewed good conscience beâause when a man is renewed all the âan is renewed all his mind and the âpirit of it is renewed Ephes 4.23 That ye may be renewed in the spirit of you mind If the man be renewed all thâ mind must be renewed and therefoââ the conscience must be renewed too for the mind and the conscience ever gâ together nay conscience is mainly seated in the mind and therefore if thâ mind be renewed so is the conscience and if the mind be defiled so is the conscience Tit. 1.15 To them that are defiled is nothing pure but their minds aâ consciences are defiled Mark When theâ are defiled they are defiled together so when they are washed and renewed they are washed and renewed together Now this renewed conscience is eitheâ perfect or defective 1. Perfect I meaâ not perfect in every degree of goodnesse For so no mans conscience in thâ world is perfect But I mean perfect iâ every part and condition of goodnesse 2. A defective good renewed conscience is that which faileth in some conditions of goodnesse We call it a weâ conscience which is apt to be polluteâ and defiled again 1. Cor. 8.7 Their conscience being weak is defiled This is a defective good conscience a conscience âewed but imperfectly renewed I. To a good conscience A firm conscience that is ândly renewed five things are necesââây â Knowledge of Gods will and ât which doth follow the true knowâââge of his will namely true humiliaâ and fear By nature the conscience âlind and sturdy and venturous and ââârefore it is necessary that it should be âghtened to understand the will of âd and to presse it and again it is neâââsary that the heart should be humâd or else it will not stoop to Gods âl and it is necessary also that this ây fear should fall upon the heart ât it may not dare to transgresse Stâââter being to speak of a good consciââce premiseth all these as necessarie âââreunto First he adviseth that Chriââââns have knowledge to be able to give ââason of the hope that is in them and ân that they should have meeknesse and ãâã for to do it 1. Pet. 3.15 16. with meeknesse and â saith he having a good conscience âârk Knowledge and meeknesse and fear are required to make a good conscience without them the consciencâ cannot be good By nature we are alâ blind and stubborn and fearlesse of sinning and therefore till we be cured oâ these evils our consciences cannot be good 2. The second thing is a watchfulnesse and warfare against sinne Thiâ is required too to a renewed good conscience By nature we are drowsie and carelesse and secure and do not stand upon our guard to wage warre against our lusts and the desires of our flesh and so long our consciences can never be good and therefore this spirituall watchfulnesse and mainteining warre against sinne is required to the having a good conscience That thou maist warre a good warrefare saith Paul to Timothie having faith and a good conscience 1. Tim. 1.18 19. Some who seemed to have a good conscience because they did not maintein this holy warfare against sinne and the flesh they have lost it Therefore this is another requisite required to a good conscience 3. The third is tendernesse of conscience By nature our hearts are seared ând dead and unclean and therefore we must get us tender and pure hearts âf we would have good renewed consciences The end of the commandment is âove out of a pure heart and good conscience ând faith unfeigned 1. Tim. 1.5 See âow the Apostle compoundeth them âogether a pure heart and a good consciânce We must get our hearts purged ând quickened that they may be sensible of the least evil and then our consciences will be good and be as a bridle to hold us from evil A hard heart and a good conscience can never stand together 4. The fourth is the cleannesse of conscience by the washing of Christs bloud This is the main and the principall of all Yea indeed the bloud of Christ is the sole and onely cause of a good conscience I would not be mistaken I named indeed other causes Knowledge and Humbling and a holy Fear a Combat against sinne and Tendernesse but I do not mean as though a good conscience were part beholding to them and partly to Chriââ bloud For it is wholly and onely bâholding to Christs bloud for its gooânesse his bloud is the onely price of â But my meaning is this That thougâ Christs bloud be the one onely cause â redemption yet in the application of râdemption the Lord useth all those foââ named graces while he applieth it â the conscience Therefore this now ãâã adde The washing of Christs blouâ this is chiefly required to the goodnesââ of conscience We have two places oâ Scripture to prove it The one Heb. 9.14 How much more shall the bloud â Christ purge your consciences from deaâ works It is that onely can do it Thâ
do not trouble their thoughts to aim at Gods commandment in it Let me tell you Conscience will not count this obedience For conscience feeleth no bond but Gods word and if ye do not look at that it is no obedience with conscience conscience will never acquit you or absolve you for this it accounteth of this obedience as no obedience at all See 1. Cor. 10.25 and so forward There the Apostle handling that question of conscience at last concludeth Whether ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do do all to the glory of God vers 31. Let your hearts look at that and aim at that in whatsoever ye do still look at God all is lost with conscience else Though ye eat never so soberly and drink never so moderately pray never so duly conscience counteth it all nothing if ye do not look at God It is God onely his word that doth bind it and it will never give a discharge except your hearts look at him Vse 3 3. This serveth to confute our Antinomists such as say the law of God bindeth not the conscience of the regenerate Ye see here that the law of God bindeth the conscience and therefore if the regenerate have any conscience at all as certainly they have the best conscience of all men then it must needs bind their conscience From what Christians are freed We confesse the conscience of the regenerate is freed from many things by Christ First it is freed from the yoke and bondage of the ceremoniall law Gal. 5.1 Stand fast in the libertie wherewith Christ hath made us free and be not entangled with the yoke of bondage Everie mans conscience is freed from that yoke of the ceremoniall law because it ended in Christ Secondly the conscience of the regenerate is freed from seeking justification by the deeds of the law Indeed the first covenant was by the works of the law He that doeth them shall live in them But the second covenant speaketh better things He that believeth shall be saved It is true if God had not sent his Sonne we must have sought justification by the works of the law Though it were impossible to find it by reason of our sinnes yet conscience was bound that way But now that Christ Jesus hath sealed up a new covenant in his own bloud conscience is freed from that former Rom. 3.28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law For though justifying faith never be without the sincere doing of the law yet the deeds of the law have no influence into justification Conscience is freed from seeking justification thereby Thirdly the conscience of the regenerate is freed from the rigour of the law They are bound in conscience to use the law as a rule of their life and in sinceritie to obey it but are not bound by the gospel to the rigour of it that they are freed from Rom. 6.14 and so they are not under the law but under grace I grant that all carnall people who are yet out of Christ do all lie under the rigour of the law and as long as they submit not to Jesus Christ nor get into him they are bound in conscience to keep it though they cannot They cannot sinne in one tittle but conscience will condemne them before God They shall be condemned for every vain thought for every idle word for every the least sinne for every the least lust for any the least omission of good They lie under the rigour of the law and they are bound in conscience to keep it and they shall be countable for every transgression because they are under the law But the conscience of the regenerate is free from this rigour because they are under grace and therefore they are delivered from the law Rom. 7.6 The Lord hath delivered them by the body of Christ and therefore they are not bound by the gospel to all that obedience that the law in rigour requireth Fourthly the conscience of the regenerate is freed from the curse of the morall law For though the law doth condemn yet their conscience needeth not fear it because they are in Christ There is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8.1 which walk not after the flesh but after the spirit Indeed those that are not regenerate not ingraffed into Christ they are still in the mouth of the gunshot the law doth condemn them and they have no shelter and their conscience is bound by it and they shall find one day that by it their conscience will condemne them to hell It may be now for the present their conscience is quiet and they choke it and so it letteth them alone yet they are condemned in conscience and one day they shall find it But the regenerate are by Christ freed in conscience from all this condemnation Thus farre we grant But the Antinomists Antinomists and I know not what Marcionites would have more They cannot abide to heare that a regenerate person is bound to any sincere obedience to Gods law as the rule of their life They crie out against the morall law as once the Babylonians did against Jerusalem Down with it down with it even to the ground O ye do not preach Christ if ye talk of the law Beloved these are drunken opinions fitter to be preached among drunkards and Epicures and monsters then among the peculiar ones of God The law of God doth bind the conscience of all the people of God so that they are bound to make it a rule of life Nay the Scripture calleth it Christs bond whereby he bindeth his people to him Psal 2.1 2 3. The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his Anointed saying Let us break their bonds and cast away their cords from us Tush we will not be tied by his laws nor be so precisely strait-laced with such commandments as these Here the laws of the Lord are called bonds and cords Gods people are bound to him by them But the wicked they stand out and refuse to be bound Now if the law be called a bond I pray what bond is it but of conscience It is not a bond like a prisoners fetters to be put about their legs This is a spirituall bond that bindeth the conscience But let me prove it to you by arguments There be sundrie arguments to prove it Arguments That Gods law bindeth the conscience of the regenerate Arg. 1 First That which hath power to say to the conscience of the regenerate This is thy dutie and this must be done that bindeth the conscience But the law of God hath power to say thus to the conscience This is your dutie Who can tell better then Christ When ye have done all these things that are commanded you Luke 17.10 say We are unprofitable servants we have done that which was our dutie to do Mark He speaketh