either through Fear of Persecution or Hope of Temporal Advantage or the Knavish Arts and Sly Insinuations of False Teachers 2. The second Term to be here explained is What is meant by keeping a good Conscience Conscience in general is nothing but our practical Judgment directing us what we ought to do and what to avoid and approving or reproving according as we follow its Directions or run counter to them The Conscience therefore is good or bad according as the Directions are which it gives for the Government of our Lives and Actions If our Judgment be false and erroneous and directs us to do what we ought to avoid or to avoid what we ought to do it is a bad Conscience that instead of being a Light to guide our Steps in the Paths of Righteousness is only a wandring Night-fire that leads us into Bogs and Quagmires As on the contrary A good Conscience is our practical Judgment well informed and truly directing us in the Course of our Actions what we ought to do and what to avoid For a good Conscience is the true Eccho of God within us that faithfully resounds his Voice and upon all Opportunities of Action repeats after him to our Wills and Affections To keep a good Conscience therefore implies two Things First To maintain in our Minds a true Sense of Good and Evil and so far forth as in us lies to preserve our practical Judgment pure from all false Principles of Action and not to suffer either our vicious Inclinations or wordly Interest to warp and seduce it and cause it to mistake Evil for Good and Good for Evil. Secondly It implies our following the Dictates and Directions of a good Conscience our doing what it bids and abstaining from what it forbids and faithfully resigning our selves to its Conduct and Government and not to be prevailed upon by any Temptation whatsoever to act counter to its Sense and Persuasion In short To keep a good Conscience is to live in a strict Conformity to the Dictates of a well-informed Judgment and not to allow our selves in any Course of Action which this Vice-God within us forbids or disapproves 3. The Third Term to be explained in the Text is What is meant by putting away a good Conscience which being directly opposed here to keeping a good Conscience must denote the Contraries to it To put away a good Conscience therefore is either fâ—rst to corrupt our own Judgment of Things and Actions out of vicious Affection or worldly Interest and impose upon our selves false Notions of Good and Evil or secondly to act directly contrary to our Sense and Persuasion to leave undone those Things which our own Conscience tells us we ought to do and to do those Things which it tells us we ought not to do In short To put away a good Conscience is to live in any known Course of Sin either of Omission or Commission to practise Contradictions to our own Judgments and to follow the Inclinations of our Wills against the Light and Conviction of our Consciences 4. The last Enquiry is What is here meant by making shipwrack of the Faith which being here set in Opposition to holding or keeping the Faith must signifie oppositely and consequently must denote not holding and keeping it or which is the same thing losing and abandoning it For in this Allegory the true Christian Faith is represented as a Ship and a good Conscience or a pure and holy Life as the Pilot that steers and governs it And indeed in that State of Things there was no other Pilot but Purity of Conscience and Holiness of Life was able to conduct and preserve this Ship and carry it safe through those incessant Storms of Persecution wherein at that time it was toss'd and agitated For when Christians have once thrown off the Obligations of a good Conscience by abandoning themselves to a wicked and dissolute Life what is there left to restrain them from abandoning their Faith when it stands in Competition with their worldly Ease and Interest And though there should be no Competition between their Faith and Interest but they might freely enjoy them both without any Disturbance yet their wicked Lives will naturally tempt them to corrupt their Faith with wicked Principles of which later in the next Verse he gives an eminent instance in Hymenaeus who had not wholly deserted Christianity but only renounced one Fundamental Article of it viz. The Resurrection of the Dead As of the former he gives another Instance in Alexander who as it seems probable had through the Fear of Persecution deserted Christianity it self The Words thus explained may be resolved into this Sense That Mens living wickedly against the Convictions and Obligations of their Conscience â—oth very much expose them to Apostacy from true Religion into gross and impious Errors Thus to the love of money which is the root of all evil the Apostle attributes Men's Erring from the Faith 1 Tim. 6. 10. And that which exposed those silly women 2 Tim. 3. 6. to the Seduction of false Teachers was their being laden with sins and led away with divers lusts And the same Apostle ascribes Demas's Apostacy to his Covetousness or inordinate love of this present world 2 Tim. 4. 10. But that I may evince this Truth more fully I shall give you some particular Instances of the mighty Tendencies there are in every vicious Course of Life to Error and Apostacy from true Religion 1. It corrupts and debauches Men's Reason and Understanding 2. It renders the Principles of true Religion uneasie to their Minds 3. It deprives Men of the highest Encouragements to Constancy and Stedfastness in Religion 4. It weakens the natural Force of their Consciences which is the greatest Restraint from Apostacy 5. It strengthens the Temptations to Apostacy 6. It provokes God to give us up to the Power of Delusion 1. Living in any known and willful Course of Sin corrupts and debauches Mens Reason and Understandings So long as a Man lives in any known Sin he doth not only live without but against his Reason which instead of being the Guide of his Actions hath nothing at all to do with them but like an idle Spectator doth only behold the bruitish Scene without any Part or Concern in it And whilst a Man thus abandons himself to the Government of his own blind Will and lives not only in the perpetual Neglect but Contempt of his Reason it is impossible for him not to waste and impair it For as our rational Faculties are improved and perfected by Exercise so they naturally languish and decay through Disuse and Inactivity and consequently the less Use we make of them in the Government of our Lives and Actions which is their proper Office and Employment like standing Waters they must corrupt and putrisie And indeed there is no impure Lust but doth by its own natural Efficacy disable Mens Reason and Understanding For while we are in these Bodies our Mind is fain
courted you to accept of it and though time after time you scornfully refused and rejected it yet in hope that at last you might be prevailed with you know how long I waited upon you even till you had tired out my Patience and I saw there was no Remedy And do you now charge your not returning to your Duty upon your Hoplesness of Pardon for your former Rebellions 'T is true Lord we cannot deny but thou didst offer us Pardon but alas it was upon an impossible Condition even upon a hearty Repentance and a thorough Reformation which thou knewest we were not then able to perform For by a long Custom of Rebellion against thee we had contracted so many inveterate evil Habits which had so weaken'd and debilitated our Powers that we were no more able to reform and amend our selves than the Leopard is to change his Spots or the Aethiopian his Skin To what Purpose then should we attempt Impossibilities or set our selves to wrestle with Difficulties which we knew we were never able to surmount But pray how did you know that it was impossible for you to repent when by all the Arguments I used with you I could never persuade you to make Trial of it You know in your own Consciences that there are many things that you could do you could have betaken your selves to a serious Consideration of the Duties and Motives of Religion you could have attended and abstained at least from the outward Acts of Sin and humbly implored my Grace and Assistance and that to encourage you to do this and what else was in your Power I gave you the most ample Assurance in the World that I would back and enforce your Endeavours with the Aids of my Grace and in despite of all opposition crown them with Success So that though by your own single Strength indeed you could never have effected your Repentance yet it was far from being impossible to you since you knew that by doing what was in your power you should infallibly oblige me to enable you to do all the rest But blessed Lord what Encouragement had we to repent and return to our Duty for if we had done it we must have bid adieu for ever to all those Pleasures and Delights by which we were invited and detained in the Service of our Lusts and Thou offered'st us nothing in exchange for them but only Sighs and Tears with other ungrateful Rigours of a bitter and severe Repentance How then canst thou blame our Disobedience against thee when we had so many inviting Temptations to it and so little Encouragement to the contrary O prodigious Impudence with what Face can you assert such a notorious Falshood when you know in your own Consciences that besides all those Pleasures that are connatural to my Service and which do vastly exceed all the Pleasures of Sin I laid an immortal Crown at your Feet and faithfully promised you that if you would but spend a short Life in my Service I would at the End of it receive you into that blissful State where you should be happy beyond all your Wishes and to the utmost Capacity of your Nature where you should live with God and Angels in the most rapturous Exercise of everlasting Love and Joy which one would have thought had been sufficient to recompence you for those silly Pleasures for whose sake you deserted me and my Service But since you have trampled upon all my Offers and would by no means be perswaded by all those mighty Tenders I have made you Go ye deservedly cursed into ever Hold Lord we beseech thee and before thou passest thy irrevocable Doom upon us hear this last Petition we shall make for our selves We now confess that we are fully convinc'd and O that we had understood it sooner what infinite Reason we had to adhere to thee and thy Service It is our Misery that these things were not sooner discover'd to us or at least that they were not so clearly discovered as to convince and perswade us Had we but known what we now know we would never have deserted thee as we did and therefore we beseech thee have Pity upon our Ignorance and impute not to our Wills the Faults of our Vnderstandings which are not in our Power to remedy Why is this the utmost that you can plead for your selves Have I not told you all these things before-hand as plainly as Words could express them Have I not instituted an Order of Men in my Church to explain these things to you and to put you in mind of them So that whatever you pretend you could not but know and understand them or if you did not it was because you would not And if you would wilfully shut your Eyes against the Light it was your own Fault that you did not see and you may thank your selves for the Consequents of it I plainly told you where your Wickedness would end and unless you were wilfully blind you could not but see what the Event of your Sin would prove even while you were committing it and you know in your own Consciences that this fearful Doom which now you deprecate you were fairly warned of when you might have easily avoided it by a timely Submission but you would not And seeing you would be so mad as to reject Heaven when it lay before you and leap into Hell with your Eyes open your Blood be upon your own Heads For I have tried all the Arts of Love and Methods of Kindness to reclaim you and since you have render'd them all ineffectual what remains but that you depart from me like accursed Wretches as you are into that everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels And now I beseech you do not your own Consciences consent to the Justice and Righteousness of this Procedure Is there any tolerable Plea you can urge at the Judgment-Seat of Iesus Christ which here hath not been fully answered And if so how inexcusable shall we be when we come to plead our own Cause in the great Assembly of Spirits For when these Aggravations of our Disobedience shall be laid open our Guilt will appear so foul and monstrous that we shall doubtless be condemned by the unanimous Vote of all the Reasonable World and as soon as the great Judge hath pass'd his Sentence upon us our own Consciences will be forc'd to eccho Iust and righteous art thou O Lord in all thy Ways Wherefore as we would not be found inexcusably guilty when we come to plead for our Lives before the Tribunal of our Saviour let us all be perswaded to return to his Service and faithfully to continue in it that so instead of Go ye cursed we may hear from his Mouth that welcome Approbation Well done good and profitable Servants enter into the Ioy of your Master III. I come now to the last Proposition in the Text viz. And we beheld his Glory the Glory as of the only Son of the Father In
Persuasion whether you do it sincerely and upon pure Conviction of Mind or in meer Compliance with any vicious or worldly Affection And I shall give them to you in these following Queries which I earnestly beâ—eech you seriously to propose to your own Souls whenever any such Temptation shall befal you 1. Whether upon your first Entrance on the Debate of Changing your Prejudice lie on the side of your present Religion or of that you are invited to turn to 2. Whether you have not some distaste in your Affections to your present Religion before you entertained any Overtures of changing it 3. Whether that which gave you your first Inclination to Change was not some temporal Interest 4. Whether before you entertained any Intention to Change you were fully resolved to consult impartially both Sides of the Question 5. Whether when you first entred upon this Consultation it was your unfeigned Intention whatever should happen to you to adhere to that Side which should appear most reasonable 6. And lastly whether before you were inclined to change you did conscientiously comply with the Obligations of Religion and continued to do so afterwards 1. When you fall under any Temptation to Change ask your own Soul whether your Prejudice lye on the Side of your present Religion or of that which you are tempted to turn to There is no Man that sincerely professes any Religion but must be strongly prejudiced for it especially if he imbibed it betimes and was principled in it by his Education for how can he sincerely profess it without engaging his Affections towards it and heartily espousing its Interest For though I confess it is a Fault for Men so to preingage themselves to any Religious Principles especially such as are not exceeding clear and evident and such are all the Fundamentals of Christianity as to shut his Ears against all contray Reasons and obstinately resolve never to part with them or so much as to admit into our Consideration any Argument or Evidence against them yet after all it is impossible for any sincere Professor of any Religion whether it be true or false to be so indifferently affected towards it as not to side with it in his Will as well as in his Faith and Judgment so that whenever he is tempted to desert it the Temptation must necessarily find him strongly preingaged for it and unless it bring along with it sufficient Evidence not only to convince his Reason but also to captivate his Prejudice it will never be able to prevail For if ever the Man loved his Religion his Passion will contend for it as well as his Reason so that all Arguments against it be they never strong and cogent will at first especially find a difficult Access to and an ungrateful Reception in his Mind and though he is so overborn by the Strength of the Evidence against it that he can no longer forbear doubting and suspecting it yet still he is very loth to part with it and still he wishes it were true though he is not able to evince it so till after having endured a long Siege of strong and pressing Arguments he is driven at length out of all his Defences and then his Prejudice yields as well as his Judgment to surrender up his erroneous Faith to the prevailing Power of his Convictions This is the natural Temper of every sincere Professor of any Religion When therefore you are at any Time tempted to change your Religion before you proceed pause a while and consider seriously how you stand disposed and which way your Heart is preingaged whether to the Religion you have hitherto professed or to that for which you are invited to change it Consult a while with your own Souls to which side of the Question you are most inclined to listen whether to the Side which asserts your present Persuasion or to that which contradicts and opposes it Observe but which Way your Wishes and your Passions move whether for or against it and which Reasons and Arguments you are most concerned for those that oppose or those that defend it For assure your selves if the Temptation to Change find you lukewarm and indifferent or so much as easy and plyable to its Proposals if it finds you unaverse to admit of a contrary Persuasion or forward to catch at every Shew of Evidence against that Religion which you have hitherto professed or ready to be stagger'd out of it upon the first Appearunce of any Reasons or Probabilities against it if I say you find any of these evil Symptoms upon you when you are first tempted to change you have great Reason to suspect that you are a false Hypocrite to that Profession which you have hitherto made that there is some vile Affection in you that hath got the Ascendent of your Religion and your Conscience and that if in this Temper you proceed to a Change you will be found to be a Convert of your Lusts and not of your Convictions 2. When you fall under any Temptation to change your Religion examine whether you have not entertained some Distast to it in your Affections before you proceed any farther whether you have not entertained some Quarrel against it upon the Account of the Disturbance it gives you in your vicious Delights and Enjoyments or because it too severely exacts of you universal Sanctity of Life and Manners to which of all Things in the World your Heart is most averse and without which the inflexible Principles of your present Persuasion will not permit you to hope for any Favour from God either here or hereafter Consider whether upon these Accounts your Mind be not cankered with a secret Enmity against your Religion whether under those Qualms of Conscience it often gives you your Heart doth not rise against it and you do not sometimes secretly wish that you could release your Faith from its tyrannick Principles which give you so much Pain and Disturbance and submit it to some genâ—ler Religion that would permit you to Sin in quiet or at least prove more indulgent to your Lusts For if this be your Temper you are in very great Danger of being betrayed by it into any false and corrupt Religion that shall be tender'd you in Exchange for your own For if this other Religion offer but any fair Terms to your vicious Affections or propose but any Expedient how to accommodate the vexatious Quarrel between them and your Consciences if it doth but any way reconcile your Hope of Heaven to your vicious Manners by directing you to some easier Terms of Salvation than that of forsaking all Unrighteousness and worldly Lusts and living soberly and righteously and godly in this present World if it will but admit of any Commutation of that unsufferable Penance of Godliness for bodily Exercise of inward Mortification for a long Fast or a sound Whipping of putting off the old Man for putting on a 〈◊〉 Shirt of running the Race of a holy Life for a saâ—â—ring