Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
conscience_n	end_n	good_a	unfeigned_a	1,203	5	10.8412	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29932	Dwelling with God, the interest and duty of believers in opposition to the complemental, heartless, and reserved religion of the hypocrite / opened in eight sermons by John Bryan ...	Bryan, John, d. 1676.; Baxter, Richard, 1615-1691.	1670 (1670)	Wing B5243; ESTC R31994	149,472	465

Word of God and all other meanes of grace and in the Saints of God and a more fervent zeal against sin in our selves and others and for advancement of God's glory For zeal is nothing else but a flame issuing from the Fire of Love And because there is a zeal which is not according to knowledge the five requisites in the exerting of our zeal ought to be examined namely whether we have a good cause and calling and a good Conscience and use only good meanes and aim at a good end Where there is true love to Men it will be extensive to all and manifest it self by unfeigned desire of their salvation and an earnest desire to procure them all the goods their necessities require according to our ability and even to our greatest Enemies compassionate affection towards them pitying and grieving for any evil that befalls them with a gentle usage of them in speech and action Thus are we commanded to deal with our Enemies Oxe or Ass Moreover we are bound to pray for the pardon of their sins and conversion of their minds and manners and readily to relieve them But especially we prove our dwelling in God by Love to the Brethren Christs whole spiritual Kindred that are knit to him by the bond of faith and among themselves by that of love Those on whom we discern the new Man put on which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness though different from us in judgment in points of faith that are not fundamental Our love to these must not only be unfeigned So it must be to all others and with a pure heart free from Lust and evil surmising but with extraordinary heat of affection Having thus proved the Doctrine and resolved the Question we proceed to Application And there are three sorts of Persons to be dealt with 1. Such as are or may be sure they have not yet made God their Habitation 2. Such whose Habitation the Lord is sure enough but they have no comfortable assurance that he is so 3. Such as have this assurance The first of these are the greatest part of the Visible Church as for the rest of the World which are 28. or 31. by computation they are without doubt without God in the World wherein there are no less than one and thirty sorts of Hypocrites of whom eleven come not up so high as the profession of the true Religion The other 20. Persons the true Religion without being truly Religious Affecting the Name Religion but dis-affecting the thing The description of each of these are legible in Crook's Characters Now an Hypocrite shall not come before God cannot subsist in his presence much less have his abode in him Many of them have confidence in Gods mercies But the Hypocrites hopes shall perish whose hope shall be cut off and whose trust shall be a Spiders Web their hopes shall be as the giving up of the Ghost For what is the hope of the Hypocrite though he hath gained when God taketh away his Soul Will God hear his cryes when trouble cometh upon him There is no hope of mercy for them no though the fittest objects of mercy The Lord shall have no joy in their young Men. Neither shall have mercy on their Fatherless and Widdows for every one is an Hypocrite Nothing but woe is their Portion as appeares by those 8. woes pronounced against them by our Saviour in one Chapter And he makes them as it were the Free-holders of Hell All others but as Inmates holding under them And he hath given 14. Notes together whereby they may be known any one of which raigning in any Man proves him to have nothing to do in God that God is not his Habitation but that he is a Simon Magus was in the gall of bitterness It is too manifest alas that most among us are out of God by what hath been spoken in answer to the Question 1. There are none in comparison that will be perswaded to make choice of God Not only the whole World out of the Church lyeth in wickedness as in a deep puddle have chosen to live under the power and command of the wicked one and with the Swine to wallow in the mire and filth of Sin but also the whole Multitude that is within the Body and Kingdome of Christ Yea they have chosen their own ways and their Soul delighteth in their Abominations When I called none did answer when I spake none did hear but they did evil before mine Eyes and chose that wherein I delighted not They hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord they would have none of my counsel My People would not hearken unto my Voice and Israel would have none of me No for I have loved strangers and after them will I go Strange Nations and Gods their Idolatries Superstitions and Customes They choose new Gods that came newly up whom their Fathers feared not From the least of them even to the greatest every one is given to Covetousness from the Prophet even to the Priest every one dealeth deceitfully They have chosen the Tongue of the Crafty Such a choice most of the sacred stock and Members of the Church of old made The Sons of God saw that the Daughters of Men were fair and they took them Wives of all which they chose Without making any distinction for spiritual matters or Religion did intimate was to be done and such a perverse choice the Jews long after made who were the only Visible Church For Salvation is of the Jews They cryed all not this Man but Barabbas They denyed the holy One and the just and desired a Murderer to be granted unto them And no other choice do the generality of the World among us at this day make The World hath three Daughters The lust of the Flesh the lust of the Eye and the Pride of Life One of which every one chooseth before God the Voluptuous the first the Covetous the second the Ambitious the third And who or where is he or she that is not one of these Many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are Enemies of the Cross of Christ Whose God is their Belly whose Glory is their shame who mind Earthly things 2. There are as few that lay hold on God joyn themselves to him close with him There is none that calleth upon thy Name that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee Where are there any that do as those Children returning to Judea did the Children of Israel and the Children of Judah together of whom it is said They shall go and seek the Lord their God they shall ask the way to Zion with their Faces thither-ward Saying come let us joyn our selves unto the Lord in a perpetual Covenant that shall not be

of sound words Let us hold fast our profession of Christian Faith and Religion in words and deeds That which ye have already hold fast till I come Especially this grace and gift of assurance which is a Jewel of the greatest worth in the World For as the happiness of having it so the misery of wanting it is unspeakable We cannot love God heartily when we doubt whether he loves us We can have little heart to pray our spiritual fight will be uncomfortable our peace unsetled our patience heartless all heat to holy duties will be utterly dampt in us This is made an effect of lively Faith and an assured mark of those who are living Members of Christ namely to hold fast that degree of assurance Christ was faithful as a Son over his own House whose House are we If we hold fast the confidence and the rejoycing of the hope firm unto the end See an example of this fast holding and keeping this Pearl of Price in the Spouse of Christ how servent her desires were how forcible her endeavours to make his singular presence with her familiar with her alwayes It was but a little that I passed from the Watchmen great worldly wise Men but I found him whom my Soul loveth I held him and would not let him go We are as oft exhorted to add unto those good things which we have and hold to increase our spiritual store to grow in all Graces Besides this giving all diligence add to your Faith Virtue to Virtue Knowledge to Knowledge Temperance and to Temperance Patience to Patience Godliness and to Godliness brotherly Kindness and to brotherly Kindness Charity Grow in Grace We beseech you brethren and exhort you by the Lord Jesus that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God So ye would abound more and more That ye would increase more and more with the increase of God Grow up into him in all things which is the Head even Christ This will be both for our comfort and credit profit Lord thy Pound hath gained other Five Pounds be thou over Five Cities Especially we should desire and add degrees to our Faith as of adherence so of experience and evidence make it our Prayer Lord increase our Faith and this will bind others praises of God on our behalf We are bound to thank God alwayes for you Brethren as it is meet because that your Faith groweth exceedingly The great benefit and necessity of this knowledge of assurance may be motive sufficient to perswade you to give all diligence in the use of all means to preserve and increase it You will be sure to meet with temptations to doubt of your interest in God of your being in him to question whether you are Children of this Family Christ himself was thus assaulted though dwelling in the bosome of his Father If thou be the Son of God You must all dye shortly you may presently For what is your life it is even a Vapour which appeareth for a little Moment and vanisheth away Now if you be without assurance that you dwell in this heavenly House when Death drives you out of your Earthly How full of Horror and Torment must your Hearts needs be not knowing whether Heaven or Hell must be your dwelling place to all Eternity Whereas if you knew you were in the same House with Christ this would quiet your heart from all fear As soon as Christ was come into the Ship wherein the Disciples were tossed the Wind presently ceased God through Christ being your Habitation your Light and Salvation whom or what should you fear while you live and when you die God is our refuge therefore we will not fear And this and this only is able to make and keep your hearts lightsome in every condition Yea knowledge of your abiding in God will give a sweet relish as to every comfort So to every cross I have lost a dear Husband Wife Child Friend a comfortable dwelling but not my dear God And the more assurance the less fearful and more chearful Now the means to preserve and increase assurance are the same wherby you gained it The outward are those Ordinances of God and exercises of his holy Religion which he hath sanctified to this end to bring us unto and into himself and to work in us a comfortable assurance thereof especially the Word Sacrament and Prayer The more inward and spiritual are care to keep a good Conscience Diligent observation of your own ways Consideration of the experiments you have had of God's favour towards you renouncing your selves Resting only upon the free Grace of God in performance of the conditions required on our part looking oft over your evidences and holding the Conclusion To learn by heart and put in practice all those duties that are incumbent upon all those to whom the Lord even the most High vouchsafeth this high Prerogative of admission to and possession of his blessed Self to be your proper Habitation The general duty is to walk worthy of the Lord who hath effectually called you out of the World and out of your selves into himself and hath justified you and partly glorified you with glorious priviledges graces and comforts For whom he called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified This the Apostle Paul frequently presseth I beseech you that you walk worthy of the Vocation wherewith ye are called You know how we exhorted and charged every one of you that ye would walk worthy of God who hath called you into his Kingdom of Glory Of God whose Livery you wear whose Image you bear of whose Houshold you are To walk worthy of your Vocation is to walk holily for the general Vocation of all Christians is to be holy as God is holy unto whom they are called in Jesus Christ As he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation And as he presseth them to this worthy walking So he presseth God by Prayer for them that they might by his grace be enabled to walk declaring withall sundry Ingredients and Concurrents that make these paces and steps they take regular and graceful and the end of the course joyful We cease not to pray for you and to desire that ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdome and spiritual understanding that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all well-pleasing being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God strengthned with all might according to his glorious power unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness Let knowledge shew you the wayes you should walk and sanctification carry you on an end therein and patience uphold you till you come to the end of your Journey when you shall receive the end of your Faith even the salvation of your Souls The