Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n
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A26158
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Ten sermons preach'd before Her Royal Highness, the Princess Ann of Denmark at the chappel at St. James by Lewis Atterbury ... LL.D. and one of the six preachers to Her Royal Highness.
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Atterbury, Lewis, 1656-1731.
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1699
(1699)
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Wing A4157; ESTC R35290
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112,085
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264
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Sensuality I have indulg'd my self in every thing which my Heart could wish But alas all those Delights are now fled away there now remains nothing of them but the uneasie remembrance I have nothing to expect from a Just and offended God but eternal Misery and everlasting Torments Such Reflections as these do frequently break in upon the vicious Liver these misgivings of Mind do haunt and pursue him and will not suffer him to go on quietly in his wicked Courses but render him uneasie here as well as miserable hereafter And therefore Secondly The way to lead a comfortable Life even in this World is to be vertuous and religious This is evident I. Because the leading of a Vertuous and religious Life is the most likely means to obtain the good things of this World II. Because it heightens and improves the Enjoyment of them 1. The leading of a Vertuous and religious Life is the most likely means to obtain the good things of this World Now the Goods of this World may be reduc'd to these three Heads 1. Health and long Life 2. Riches 3. Honour and Reputation 1. An honest vertuous and religious Life is the most proper Course to preserve our Health and prolong our Lives For Religion teaches us to be sober chast and temperate to avoid all excess in Meat Drink or Sleep which lays the Foundation of most Diseases and breaks off the thread of our Lives It teaches us to govern our Passions and to keep them within their due Bounds and hereby procures such an even and steady temper of Mind as contains the Blood in its due Ferment the Humours in their proper Channels and promotes Health and a vigorous Constitution Blessed are the meek Matth. 5.5 for they shall inherit the Earth Saith our Blessed Saviour i.e. a quiet meek and humble frame of Spirit will conduce very much to prolong our days in this World and prevent those Broils and Quarrels occasion'd by exorbitant Passion which bring so many Men to untimely ends And Lastly It teaches us to serve God and to live up to the end for which we were created whereby we obtain such inward Comfort and Satisfaction of mind The Feast of a good Conscience as renders us of a pleasant Humour and chearful Disposition which as the wise Man observes Prov 17.22 doth good like a Medicine 2. A vertuous and religious Life is the most likely means to make us rich By encouraging us to be industrious in our several Callings honest in our Dealings frugal in our Expences which are the most proper means of getting and keeping Riches and diverting us from all those expensive Vices of Gaming Intemperance and Lasciviousness which have consumed so many Estates and brought many a Man to a Morsel of bread But above all it brings the Blessing of God along with it and gives Success to our honest Endeavours so that we have reason to stand amaz'd at our own Plenty as being hardly able to reconcile our Income with our Expences 3. For Honour and Reputation These are scarce ever known to be obtain'd but by a Life led according to the Rules of Vertue and Honesty For tho' a wicked Man may have Titles heap'd upon him and derive his Pedigree from a long Succession of illustrious Ancestors tho' he may be followed by a numerous Train of Servants and Dependants and have the Shouts and Acclamations of the Rabble and be ador'd by his servile Flatterers as a God tho' they may applaud every word he speaks as if it were an Oracle yet 't is plain that they despise and contemn the Man whilst they adore his Fortune 'T is not the Ass but the golden Image he bears they fall down to for whenever the Scale of Fortune turns and this great wicked Man falls into Poverty and Disgrace he becomes the Scorn and Laughing-stook of his most suppliant Admirers and those very Persons who strove who should caress and tickle him with the most fulsome Flattery will then as earnestly contend who shall treat him with the most remarkable Ignominy and Contempt Thus the great Sejanus whilst he was the Favourite of his Prince was the Idol of the People also But when he fell into Disgrace with Tiberius Caesar then no Indignity was omitted which their Rage and Madness could invent and the most infamous Death was thought too good for him Then one might have heard the Crowd giving vent to the just resentments of their Minds which before fear made them suppress Says one I always had an ill Opinion of that Man I thought he climb'd too high to stand long and that his indirect and wicked Courses would one time or other meet with a just Reward Says another I was of the same Opinion and though my dependance on him oblig'd me to give him some external Homage and to worship him for the same reason 't is said the Indians do the Devil yet I could never endure him in my Heart I always hated the Man and his Vices But on the contrary that Honour and Reputation which is obtain'd by a Vertuous and religious Life is of a more durable stamp and rather encreas'd than diminish'd by Adversity A time of Tryal makes the good Man's Vertues more remarkable exercises his Graces and the Furnace of Affliction purifies and refines them A true Sterling Vertue will be honour'd and admir'd in all Conditions in all places and at all times Good Men naturally love and speak well of that which is Praise-worthy and commendable all Love being founded in likeness and similitude of Nature and even wicked Men cannot but reverence that Vertue and Integrity which they will not be at the Pains to Practise And now for a conclusion of this Point let me appeal to your Experience whether in the ordinary Course of the World Health Riches and Reputation are not for the most part the Rewards of leading a good and vertuous Life And as Religion furnishes us with the good things of this World So 2. It heightens and improves the Enjoyment of them It enables us to take the Comfort of those good things we enjoy Prov. 16.8 and makes a little better with Righteousness than great revenues without right And this it performs 1. By making us content with our Lot and Portion in this World and freeing our Minds from all those anxious and sollicitous thoughts which render the Lives of many Men uneasie to them who abound with every good thing which their Heart can wish For the good Man believes that all things are govern'd by a wise and gracious God who best knows the Workmanship of his own hands and what Station is most proper for every Man and has furnish'd him with suitable Qualifications and Endowments and entrusted him with such a Portion of this worlds Goods as 't is convenient for him to manage He is also well assured that God is a Being of infinite Love and Kindness to Mankind Rom. 8.28 Truth and Faithfulness and will make all
our Ways as to turn our feet unto God's Testimonies Which God of his Mercy grant for the sake of our blessed Redeemer Jesus Christ our Lord. SERMON III. 2 TIM III. 5. Having a form of Godliness but denying the Power from such turn away THIS know saith St. Paul Ver. 1. That in the last days periolous times shall come because of the wickedness of Men as he goes on in the second Verse for Men shall be lovers of their own selves covetous proud boasters blasphemers and all which he comprehends under one Character in the words of the Text Having a Form of Godliness but denying the Power And this is the chief Reason why the times would be so perilous because the greatest part of these wicked Persons should conceal their Crimes under a Form and shew of Godliness Were they professedly and openly wicked there were some Ingenuity even in their Impudence because they could not be tax'd or upbraided with Hypocrisie Were they covetous proud blasphemers without a shew of Zeal and pretence of Religion then all Men might plainly discern and detect them Psal 55.12 and from an open Enemy I would have hid my self says David Shelves and Quicksands that have Lights always burning to discover them by are the more easily avoided and we are forewarn'd against the Dog that barks first But these Deceivers of whom St. Paul speaks have a fair and glorious outside tho' they are foul within These workers of Iniquity cry Lord Lord and are great Professors of Religion They put on the Form of Godliness tho' they deny the Power thereof and therefore they have the greater Sin From hence it is that they are the more dangerous Company and we have the greater Reason to observe the Caution laid down in the Text from such turn away Having a Form of Godliness but denying the Power from such turn away From these words I shall shew I. What is here meant by Godliness what by a Form and what by the Power of it II. That we may have a Form without the Power of Godliness III. How we may discover whether we have the Power of Godliness or else only the Form of it IV. And Lastly how far we must turn away from such as have only the Form but not the Power of Godliness 1. What is here meant by Godliness what by a Form and what by the Power of it Godliness in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a devout and sincere Worship of the only true God in Spirit and in Truth both inwardly and outwardly according to his Word Or to describe it more fully and expresly 1 Tim. 1.5 'T is an earnest Love of God out of a pure Heart and a good Conscience and Faith unfeigned whereby we are incited to glorifie God and to do good towards Men So that in this one word is imply'd our whole Duty towards God and Man This is express'd by St. 1 Tim. 2.2 Paul by leading a quiet and peaceable Life in all Godliness and Honesty 1 Tim. 4.8 This is that Godliness which is profitable unto all things and has the Promises of the Life that now is and that which is to come By a Form of Godliness is meant an outward Resemblance a colourable shew or likely appearance of Godliness when a Man puts on the Face and outside of Religion Acts and Mimicks it so well as to deceive and impose upon those who converse with him who judging according to the outward appearance believe him to be an honest holy and religious Man tho' in truth he is nothing less He may not only deceive others but delude himself also and be confidently perswaded that he is the Child of God and one of the chief Favourites of Heaven when indeed he is a Servant of the Devil and a Firebrand of Hell And in truth the Form must be like the Pattern or else it is no Form at all for we do not say a Picture or Statue is such a Man's Picture or Statue unless it bears a lively Resemblance of his Looks and Person Thus a Form of Godliness must be such a shew and outside of Religion as is of the same hew and complection with true Religion and a lively Portraicture of it tho' in many Respects it falls short of the Power of Godliness which implies that Force and Efficacy that internal Principle and Spring of Action which is well express'd by the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby a Man is made as St. 1 Tiâ—â— 41 8.12 Paul says An example of Believers in word in Conversation in Charity in Spirit in Faith in Purity and has the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation teaching him to deny ungodliness and worldly Lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world If a Man has Charity in Conversation Faith and Purity in Spirit so as to deny all worldly Lusts and to live soberly in himself and righteously towards others and godly towards his Maker and Redeemer Then is his Soul and Body entirely subject to the Cross of Christ then his Form of Godliness proceeds from the Power of it And this is that Power of Godliness which works mightily unto Salvation And this Power of God is most evidently seen in reducing the most Stiff-neck'd and Hard-hearted Sinners in prevailing with them to leave their beloved Sins and bosom Vices and in beating down and subduing the most stubborn and unruly Passions such as Pride Envy Malice and Revenge those Sins our corrupt Nature is most subject to and in making so great a Change in us that we do not seem to be the same Men. The Lyon becomes a Lamb and the Serpent a Dove a natural Man a Man wholly Spiritual and a Servant of the Devil a Child of God He aims at new ends Acts by new Principles and is ready to expose his Life by giving his Testimony to those Truths which before were foolishness unto him And therefore the Gospel is call'd Rom. 1.16 the Power of God unto Salvation to every one that believes This is that Power of Godliness which those Hypocrites mentioned by St. Paul in the Text are without here 't is they are defective which brings me to shew 2. That the Form of Godliness may be without the Power of it And this is confirm'd by many other Texts of Scripture We are forewarn'd that we do not look to the outward appearance 2 Cor. 11.14 for the Devil can transform himself into an Angel of Light and then 't is no wonder that his Servants can put on the guise and appearance of the Children of God There are numerous instances set down in the Holy Scripture sufficient to convince us of this Truth We are told that a Man may pretend to be sent from Heaven and yet Preach another Gospel than that which our Saviour reveal'd to the World and hereby deserve an Anathema Nay he may Preach the true Gospel with such force of Reason and wonderful Efficacy