difference between the holy and the profane Now the question is this Where in lieth the difference between the quiâ conscience of the righteous and thâ quiet conscience of the wicked Answ The difference between them lieth iâ foure things 1. In the thing it self 2. In the cause 3. In the effect 4. Iâ the continuance I. In the thing it self The quiet conscience in the godly is double not onely apparentiall and nominall but reaâ and substantiall It is quiet and quiâ too Isai 57.19 peace and peace too I create tâ fruit of the lips peace peace Marâ peace and peace too peace in appearance and peace in truth and substance also But the peace and quiet of consciencâ which the wicked have is not such peace It is peace and no peace peace ân appearance but no peace in truth Their god is the god of this world ând he perswadeth them they have peace But my God saith the prophet âpeaketh otherwise vers 21. There is no peace to âhe wicked saith my God They talk of a good conscience sometimes and boast they have a good conscience but the âruth is they cannot have true peace within for saith the prophet the wickâd is like the troubled sea which cannot âest whose waters cast up mire and dirt So doth a wicked mans conscience seâretly cast up mire and dirt in his face His peace can onely be outward and apparentiall II. There is a difference in the cause The quiet of a good conscience ariseth ârom one cause and the quiet of a bad âonscience ariseth from another 1. The quiet of a good conscience âriseth from a distinct knowledge of the word of God and of the precepts and promises conteined in it But the quiet of an evil conscience ariseth from ignorance When men know not Goâ nor his holy word which should binâ conscience they fear nothing becausâ they see nothing they know not thâ danger of sinne Like a blind maâ standing before the mouth of a cannon he feareth no danger because hâ seeth none so carnall men fear not because they know not what cause theâ have to fear Their very prayers thâ they make are an abomination to Goâ and they know it not their good duties they do are all like cockatrices egâ and they know it not they know noâ that they are in the bond of iniquitie iâ the snare of the devil Their conscienceâ are quiet because they know not whaâ cause they have to be otherwise Thiâ is one difference The quiet and peacâ of a good conscience ariseth from lighâ and from knowledge the quiet anâ peace of an evil conscience from darknesse and ignorance Heb. 10.22 2. The quiet of a good consciencâ ariseth from a due examination of ouâselves by the word and purging of ouâ consciences Conscience never can beâ good without purging and sprinkling âo nor without a due examination the âuiet of a good conscience ariseth from âis Whereas the quiet of a wicked âans conscience ariseth from want of âis He never examineth his consciâce but letteth it sleep till God awake â with horrour I say a wicked mans âonscience sleepeth and that maketh it âuiet and he is not troubled nor moâsted with it Like a baillif or sergeant ââllen asleep by the way the desperate âbtour whom he lieth in wait for may âsse by him then and find him very âiet and not to offer to arrest him âr like a curst dog fallen asleep a âanger may passe by him then and not ãâã meddled with Such like is this quiet âil conscience 3. The quiet of a good conscience âiseth from a good ground from the âork of Gods Spirit from true saving âace from righteousnesse Rom. 14.17 âe reade of righteousnesse and peace ârue peace of conscience ariseth from âghteousnesse Whereas the false peace âf the wicked ariseth onely from vain hopes and conceits They are not guilâ of such and such great sinnes or Thâ are not so bad as some others As the Phârisee's conscience was quiet why â God I thank thee I am not as other mââ are no drunkard extortioner nor liâ this publicane Or perhaps from thiâ ground their peace ariseth The Lorâ is very mercifull and The Lord Jesââ died for sinners Or perhaps this iâ their plea They are good comers to churcâ They have prayers in their families Thâ have been professours of Christ Jesus ãâã many yeares From hence they dreaâ of peace upon false grounds when â the way of peace they have not knowâ When conscience shall be awaked theâ it will tell them how they have by flatery deceived their own souls and thaâ having no true righteousnesse they could have no true peace 4. The quiet of a good consciencâ ariseth from tendernesse and from life Therefore the Apostle joyneth together life and peace Rom. 8.6 Truâ peace of conscience ariseth from life â whereas the quiet of a wicked conscience ariseth from searednesse and beâmbednesse and deadnesse when men âeing past feeling of sinne are not trouâed at the committing of it Thus ye âe the second thing wherein the diffeânce lieth namely in the cause III. They differ in the effect First âhe effect of the quiet of a good conâcience is comfort and rejoycing Rom. 5.1 Beââg justified by faith we have peace with âod through our Lord Jesus Christ What followeth By whom we have acâsse by faith rejoycing c. Mark The âeace of conscience bringeth forth reâycing And so in other places peace ând joy are joyned together Rom. 15.13 Gal. 5.22 But the âvil conscience though quiet wanteth his rejoycing If carnall men had no âore mirth then what the quiet and âeace of their consciences doth help âhem to they would not be so merrie âs most of them be Secondly Anoâher effect of true peace of conscience â It sanctifieth the soul it purgeth the âeart purifieth the life and reformeth âhe whole man It is the instrument whereby God sanctifieth his people more and more 1. Thess 5.23 The God of peace sanctifie you wholly Observe the title which the Apostle there giveth unto God when he sanctifieth his people he calleth him the God of peace he sanctifieth his people by peace It maketh them think thus We must not do thus or thus as others do we shall lose the peace of our conscience if we do This maketh them strive against sinne denie their own wills and carnall appetites If I should not do so I should have no peace This peace sanctifieth But the peace which carnall men seem to have doth not sanctifie the soul they are never the more holy for the same Again another effect of the peace of a good conscience is to put life into us in the performance of good duties it maketh us with gladnesse and delight perform the duties of our generall and particular callings But the false peace of an evil conscience suffereth the wicked to be dead and dull to good duties The true peace keepeth our hearts and our minds We should
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
he hath given us consciences to guide us so also he would give our guides eyes that they may be able to direct us aright The truth is it is God onely that can soundly illighten our consciences and therefore let us pray unto him to do it All our studying and reading and hearing and conferring will never be able to do it it is onely in the power of him who made us to do it Psal 119.73 Thy hands have made and fashioned me O give me understanding that I may learn thy commandments He who made our consciences he onely can give them this heavenly light of ârue knowledge and right understanding and therefore let us seek earnestly to him for it 2. We must seek it in humility alwayes suspecting our own knowledge We are not too confidently and presumptuously to trust to our âwn judgement and despise or neglect âhe judgement of others Psal 25.9 The humble âod will teach Pride and self-conceitedâesse blindeth exceedingly 3. We must âeek with sobriety alwayes contenting âur selves with that knowledge which âs most necessarie and not be curious aâout vain and idle-braind questions or solicitous to answer every objection ty offendeth conscience and conscience will keep a grudge a long time and will give many a secret wound deading the heart to duty making faith and confidence in God dull we cannot pray with courage nor come before God with boldnesse If our hearts condemn us not we have confidence saith John 1. John 3.21 An erroneous conscience will defile you a doubting conscience distract you a scrupulous conscience unsettle you but above all other an illightened conscience if it have any thing against you will exceedingly disable you this stabbeth at the heart your confidence towards God Go then and labour to purge conscience else conscience will hinder you whether you pray or heare or receive the Sacrament c. it will deprive you of comfort Matth 5.23 If thou bring thâ gift to the altar and there remembrest thaâ thy brother hath ought against thee leavâ there thy gift before the altar first go anâ be reconciled to thy brother and then comâ and offer thy gift The case is greater anâ more dangerous when conscience hatâ something against us there is no offering will be accepted untill conscience be satisfied If thou shouldest be about to pray and conscience should stand up against thee as an adversary and tell thee thou hast been vain and loose and carnall all this day thou hast not set thy self to keep close to God this day thou hast fallen into this and that sinne this day thou art not fit to pray till thou hast reconciled thy self to conscience Alas thy conscience will secretly undermine all thy praying First âherefore reconcile conscience by humâling thy self and breaking thy heart and resolving I have sinned I will do no more When conscience can say thy sorrow and repentance and resolution for new obedience is sincere then thou âârt fit to pray but not before So whatâver other duty thou goest about be âure to reconcile conscience else all will miscarry V. A faithfull conscience THus I have expounded the adjuncts of conscience which shew themselves in the discharge of its duty every motion and inclination to evil it is awake to see when evil is conceived to tell us of it to oppose it and to disswade us from it like a watchman on the top of a tower alwayes awake to see when any danger approcheth It is Gods minister with eyes on every side to espie seasons of good and stirre up to make use of them and of evil and give warning to avoid them 2. As a faithfull conscience is watchfull so also it is rigid and severe 2. It is severe In every cause it delivereth its judgement nothing can escape its sentence it will not favour our lusts in any particular If there be any opportunity of duty to God or man it maketh us to heare of it though it be such a duty as none other will call upon us for or it may be dare not put us in mind of as of love and care and help towards inferiours yet conscience will It titheth mint and cumine and will tell us of the least duty And so on the other side it will not swallow the least sinne As it will not swallow a camel Luke 16.10 so it will strain at âgnat A faithfull conscience is faithfull in the least If David sinne but in the lap of a garment conscience smiteth him for it It made Abraham so precise to a thread or a shoe-latchet he would not take so much as that of the king of Sodom It made Moses strict to a very hoof It made Paul find fault with the Corinthians about their hair It made Augustine condemn himself for an apple 3. As a faithfull conscience is watchfull and severe so also it is importunate 3. It is importunate ãâã all its counsels It doth not onely deliver its judgement but doth with importunitie urge the following of its counsel It will have no nay but will be obeyed It leadeth us bound in the Spirit to do it as Paul said Acts 20.22 I go bound ãâã the spirit See how importunate this ââithfull conscience was with the Psalâist I will not give sleep to mine eyes Psal 132.4 nor ââmber to mine eye-lids untill I find out a ââace for the Lord. It will not take any âây say we what we will say we be ââepie say we be busie say we be loth ââd full of excuses it will be importuââte and that with vehemencie It will omitting good or committing evil will not let thee slumber and sleep in securitie but continually joggeth and awaketh thee Hath he given thee a severe a precise conscience that will not favour thee in the least evil It is a most comfortable signe that the Lord meaneth well unto thy soul Vse 3 III. Labour to be a friend unto conscience that it may continue faithfull unto thee True friends will deal faithfully and plainly one with another and will be importunate to do one anotheâ good Conscience will not deal thus with thee unlesse thou be a friend unto conscience Now then are we friends unto conscience when we do what conscience requireth As our Saviour said to the Disciples John 15.14 Ye are my friends if yââ do whatever I command you So I may say of conscience For conscience if iâ be truly illightened will command nothing but what Christ commandeth Iâ we deal so in our constant course with conscience be willing to hearken to it and be ruled by it then if we be out oâ the way now and then conscience will be true to us and be importunate with us for our good Vse 4 IV. Be sure thou stand not out aâainst conscience when once it is imâortunate It is a great sinne to stand âut against conscience though it be not âmportunate but it is a sinne a thousand ââmes greater to
How miserable is their case who want the peace of conscience in the time of distresse When troubles and afflictions are without then how grievous is it to want peace and comfort within When Gods mortall arrows are in your bodies then to have the arrow of his wrath sticking in your souls this will adde sorrow to sorrow and make your estate much more uncomfortable and unsupportable Beloved peace of conscience is good at all times but it is most precious when calamities fall on us Then to have the peace of a good conscience that may bring us good news from heaven that all is well within all peace there this is such peace as all the world cannot give nor sell nor buy Never more need of the peace of conscience then now M. M. As one said of the books of faith There be abundance of books written of faith buy them all up saith he ye will need every one of them ere long So may I say of whatever may forward the peace of conscience Buy it purchase it get it as much peace as you can possible ye will have need of it all ere long Take heed of troubling your consciences or clogging them with guilt lest the Lord cast you off and lest ye be hardned and so ye perish from the right way Do not think thus O we are believers and have no need of such threatnings He who is certain of his salvation knoweth assuredly he should be damned if he should go on in sinne without repentance This If is true enough Ezek. 18.26 If the righteous forsake his righteousnesse all his former righteousnesse shall be forgotten And Wo is me saith Paul 1. Cor. 9.16 if I preach not the gospel In the state of innocencie there was use of threatnings so is there now in the state of grace The Lord threatned Adam in innocencie If thou eat thereof thou shalt die the death Job was awed by threatnings not to lift up his hand against the fatherlesse for saith he Job 31.23 destruction from God was a terrour to me My flesh saith David trembleth for fear of thee Psal 119.120 and I am afraid of thy judgements Let us have grace saith the Apostle Heb. 12.28 whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear Why for our God is a consuming fire For be it that Gods children that is all believers shall never fall finally away yet this threatning is one of Christs instruments whereby he keepeth them from falling and they also may tast of much bitternesse if they grow indulgent to their corruptions O therefore take heed of this curse that your consciences may not dog you with the guilt of sinne and the apprehension of Gods wrath You will never be able to bear it much lesse in the time of affliction O it is good being in a drie house when a great tempest is up and it is safe being in a good harbour when a storm beateth hard A good conscience is good at all times but O how sweet then When Jonah fell into affliction the want of peace in his conscience made him look upon his affliction as upon hell as though he had been in the belly of hell They who follow lying vanities forsake their own mercies saith he Mark his conscience dogged him with his fleeing from God and forsaking his own mercies Ye see he was miserably distressed by it till the Lord did deliver him Be charie then of conscience and get it purged that it may speak peace to you in trouble 4 Questions NOw I have declared unto you What a troubled conscience is What is the cause of it and wherein it consisteth How many degrees there be of it How the troubled conscience of the godly differeth from the troubled conscience of the wicked the miserie of a troubled conscience and What a deal of mischief it doth one especially in affliction now I should leave this point but that there be sundrie questions to be answered about it I. Suppose a man be rid of this trouble and have peace of conscience how shall he maintein it and keep out troubles from it II. Whether and how the peace of our conscience dependeth upon our care and obedience III. What manner of obedience it is that peace of conscience doth depend on IV. If a man have no peace but onely a burdened conscience what must such a man do to be freed from it and to attein true peace I. Question How a man may keep peace of conscience I begin with the first Suppose a man have peace of conscience what must he do to keep and maintein it I answer First We must labour to prevent troubles of conscience by taking heed that we do nothing contrarie to conscience We must not be drawn by friendship or credit or the love of any lust to do that which conscience forbiddeth Nothing should be so dear unto us as the peace of conscience nothing for the love of it should make us do ought against our conscience How miserable are those comforts delights satisfactions which we get to our selves in such courses as our own hearts do condemn However they seem comforts for a while and contentments for a while and delights for a while yet at last it will appear that miserable comforts are they all Nothing that we get in any evil way will chear and comfort us in a time of need What said Francis Spira at the time of his death when seeing his wife and children about him and thinking on the goods and estate which he had got for them by denying the truth which he had before mainteined against the Romish errours he cried out in the horrour of his conscience How terrible is the sight of these unto me However before they had been comforts to him yet now he could not endure the sight of them O thought he I recanted for your sake I yielded to superstition and it was long of you Therefore he abhorred now the sight of them Wretched is he that alloweth himself in any course which his conscience findeth fault with It is a good rule the Apostle giveth Rom. 14.22 Blessed is he that condemneth not himself in that which he alloweth that is Blessed is he that hath not a condemning conscience that alloweth not himself in any course wherein his conscience doth condemne him So that if we have peace of conscience and desire to maintein it let us never allow our selves in any course that our conscience may condemne us in That is the first answer Answ 2 Secondly If we will maintein our peace we must labour to have our hearts grounded in the assurance of the love of God alas it will fail us else and leave us in trouble and perplexitie in time of greatest need Observe how the Apostle joyneth love and peace together 2. Cor. 13.11 The God of love and peace be with you If he be the God of love to us it is sure enough he will be the God of
peace also If we know once that God loveth us then we may set our hearts at rest As long as we doubt of his love our conscience can never have true peace And therefore if we would maintein true peace of conscience let us labour to be assured of Gods love Answ 3 Thirdly We must use the exercise of faith in applying the bloud of Christ we must labour to purge and cleanse our consciences with it If we find that we have sinned we must runne presently to the bloud of Christ to wash away our sinne We must not let the wound fester or exulcerate but presently get it healed As there is a fountain of sinne ân us so there is a fountain of mercie ân Christ Zech. 13.1 set open for Judah and Jerusalem and for every poore soul to wash ân As we sinne dayly so he justifieth dayly and we must dayly go to him for ât As every day we runne into new debts so the Lords prayer teacheth us every day to beg forgivenesse We must every day eye the brazen serpent Justification is an ever-running fountain and therefore we cannot look to have all the water at once A fountain ever runneth anew so justification ever floweth anew and we must go to it Christ is a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec O let us sue out every day a dayly pardon of course Let us not sleep one night without a new pardon Better sleep in a house full of adders and venemous beasts then sleep in one sin O then be sure with the day to clear the sinnes of the day Then shall our conscience have true peace Object But how if I have relapsed what shall I do then Sol. I answer Every man that falleth doth not fall on all foure as we use to say he doth not fall quite There be degrees of falling As in a sick man though he be ill yet he is not by and by dead some life remaineth still which will look out towards health again so there is so much life in justification as to recover thee again Be constant therefore in this course Ever go to Christ ever wash in this fountain ever bring thy soul hither to be cleansed and then thy conscience ever shall have peace Answ 4 Fourthly If we would maintein our peace then let us labour to be constant in obedience to Jesus Christ Whosoever keepeth his word in him verily is the word of God perfected and hereby know we that we are in him 1. John 2.5 Mark Hereby our conscience may tell us that we are right and speak peace to us if we keep his word II. Question How the peace of our conscience doth depend upon our care and our obedience The reason why I raise this question is this Because as our justification is onely in Christ so our peace is onely in him how then doth the peace of our conscience depend on obedience The place of scripture that occasioneth the doubt is 1. Pet. 3.21 The answer of a good conscience towards God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ It is by Christ how dependeth it then on our obedience Answ 1. A good conscience doth not depend upon our obedience as the principall cause of it but upon justification which we have by Christ if we be in him Rom. 5.1 Being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ Ye see then that our peace is grounded upon our justification as the principall cause of it If we should seek for peace from our works and obedience alas they are sinfull and defective there is no peace to be found in them Our conscience would be troubled at our best duties at our weaknesse in prayer our frailties in hearing our slips in every holy service There is nothing we do but our conscience might find fault with it and pick a hole in it and therefore we had need to flie unto Christ for true peace No wonder then that Papists have not true peace but professedly say that every man must doubt and no man can be sure of his salvation They must needs doubt indeed who trust to their own works which can never bring true peace The conscience must ever be quarrelling and finding of fault and be without peace if we trust to the best works So that this is the first answer All true peace dependeth upon justification by faith in Christ as the principall cause Secondly We answer That our peace dependeth upon our obedience in this sort that we can have no peace except we be given to obedience Those men that can sinne and yet be at peace were never justified in their lives A child of God when he sinneth as for example if he should be tempted to lie or to omit a good dutie which he knoweth he is bound to perform yet this would much trouble his conscience his soul would be ashamed his heart perplexed he would not know how to look the Lord in the face I have sinned what shall I do unto hee O thou preserver of men When David had sinned against God Psal 38.6 I am troubled saith he and I go mourning all the day long And therefore peace of conscience doth depend thus farre on obedience as that a man cannot have peace ânlesse he be obedient and take heed of sinne and labour in all things to be upâight before God Now if you ask me But how doth our peace depend upon our obedience I answer Dub. Sol. It dependeth upon obedience as the removing cause It removeth that which would hinder our peace Sinne would interrupt our peace now obedience removeth sinne To this purpose the Apostle speaketh 1. John 3.18 19. My little children let us not love in word and in tongue but in deed and in truth For hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before God Hereby we shall assure our consciences that we are in him if we take heed of hypocrisie If we love in truth and be obedient in truth we shall thereby remove all our doubts and our fears our troubles and perplexities of conscience So that peace doth depend on obedience as the removing cause It removeth that which otherwise would hinder peace This is the first Again our peace of conscience dependeth upon our obedience as the witnessing cause of it Obedience is one of the witnesses of true peace it witnesseth that we have peace with God 2. Cor. 1.12 This is our rejoycing even the testimonie of our conscience that in simplicitie and godly sinceritie we have had our conversation in the world See here it is the witnessing cause of it Paul had peace of conscience his conscience was able to make him rejoyce How Because it gave testimony that his conversation was godly and simple and gracious Though we be in Christ yet we can have no peace unlesse holy obedience doth witnesse the same Obedience is not the cause of the peace of our consciences before God
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
however and the high-way to hell but to be wicked when ye have godly neighbours about you your sinne now is double For as you offend God so you offend them too Ye may remember what Christ saith Whosoever offendeth one of these little ones which believe in me it were better for him that a milstone were hung about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea Matth. 18.6 Ah ye vile wretches ye little imagine what fearfull vengeance ye pull on your own heads It were better for you that a milstone were hung about your necks and ye thrown into the sea then that ye should offend one of these little ones Ye may call them what ye will call them puritanes precisians uncharitable people censurers ye may call them as Satan teacheth you to call them but it is certain it were better a milstone were hung about your neck and ye thrown into the sea then that ye should offend any one of Christs little ones The Lord open your eyes that ye may repent and believe the gospel your selves and be saved 4. Lastly be exhorted brethren to labour after a good conscience How excellent a thing is it that hath so many good ingredients Illumination is one ingredient and Faith is another and Tendernesse another and Purenesse another and Quietnesse another and the Bloud of Jesus Christ another It is like Aarons composition which smelt sweetly when he went into the sanctuarie It is compounded of excellent conditions such as smell sweeâ when we come before God the Lord loveth that such should come neaâ him We may come with assurance tâ speed if we come with a good conscience Heb. 10.22 Let us draw near with assurance oâ faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience Mark we may draw near with assurance if we come with tâ good conscience It will comfort us in all troubles and support us in all dangers It maketh us happie nay there is no happinesse without it It will make us with quietnesse and contentednesse of spirit undergo whatever it shall please God to lay upon us How can they want comfort that have this It is a spring of comfort within them This will remain with us when all other comforts will forsake us When friends fail and estate faileth when credit and health and strength and all fail then a good conscience if we have it will speak peace to us yea and it will effect it in us comfort us and fasten comfort upon us Friends may speak words of comfort and peace to us but it may be we are not able to receive it the minister may preach peace but it may be we are not able to take it But a good conscience speaketh peace and effecteth it it doth not onely speak it but it putteth it into our hearts It proppeth us up in all miseries in sicknesses yea in death it self A good conscience then maketh us hold up our heads when all the world shall be confounded A good conscience will bear us out against the King of terrours It is onely a good conscience that can look death in the face 1. Cor. 15.55 57. and say O death where is thy sting thanks be to God who giveth us victorie through our Lord Jesus Christ Yea at the day of judgement when the whole world shall be burning before us when the great men of the world who go in silks and scarlet and broidred hair shall fear and shiver as a reed shaken with the wind this will make us with boldnesse undergo the terrour of it This will make us happie in all our distresses When crosses pelt us and sicknesse paineth us and death attacheth us we are happie men What if we have the tokens of Gods wrath upon our bodies so we have the marks of his love upon our souls What outward calamitie soever happeneth to us yet if we have this good conscience we are happie O then let us labour to get it by faith and a holy life If we would be safe in the floud-time in the day of Gods wrath we must be busie now about the ark we must provide beforehand for it Nothing but this ark will save us in the deluge of Gods anger It is in vain to trouble our selves about other things Jubal was a merrie man Gen. 4.20 he made pipes and organes Jabal built tents others planted vineyards but Noah provided his ark Many desire comfort in sicknesse in death but they do not provide for it beforehand They look after their sports or businesses in the world but this ark is neglected this good conscience without which all mens labour is vain Be they what they will be in never so much credit and esteem they are yet most miserable when troubles and afflictions come on them as one day they shall and shall not tarrie then all their comforts will forsake them When death looketh them in the face then their hearts die within them How full of pride and haughtinesse soever they were before yet when they come to die if their consciences be awaked they will with Saul fall down to heare the name of death 1. Sam. 28.20 and no spirits be left in them Nay if we want a good conscience when we lie on our death-beds desire good people to pray for us Good sir I beseech you let me have the benefit of your prayers to God for me Alas if thou hast not a good conscience all the prayers under heaven will not help thee See Heb. 13.18 Brethren pray for us for we trust we have a good conscience Mark The Apostle telleth them they may pray for him with comfort because he had a good conscience As if he had said If we had not a good conscience it were in vain for you to pray for us If ever God heare the prayers made for us we must have a good conscience Those that have not this good conscience shall never enter into the kingdome of heaven Though they had Moses Daniel and Job to pray for them yet all their prayers could not help them in the time of their distresse The bond of conscience NOw we must look back unto the foure propositions which at the beginning I observed in the text I am upon 1. That there is in every man a conscience 2. That the light which directeth conscience is knowledge 3. That the bond which bindeth conscience is Gods law 4. That the office of conscience is to bear witnesse to accuse or excuse I have in the handling of these a little altered the method and spake of the two first and the last Now followeth the third and that is consciences bond which is Gods law which shew the work of the law written in their hearts c. It is onely the work of Gods law that it beareth witnesse of that it accuseth or excuseth for The bond of conscience is Gods law The law of God is consciences bond Neverthelesse we must here distinguish The bonds
true and certain âât were they never believed so though âânscience speaketh true yet men folââw it not and therefore it becometh âent when it is not regarded but all ãâã counsel and advise and perswasions ââghted and neglected Hence I say it ââmeth to passe that for want of imâloyment it is still and falleth asleep till the time come that it must be awaked 3. The third cause is that violence that is often offered unto it Many times when conscience perswadeth to any good duty or disswadeth from any eviâ course men will do against it and withstand it violently put off the wholesome advise of it hence it cometh to passe that conscience having so many injuries offered unto it beginneth to provide for its own ease and so either it is silent and saith nothing or else iâ soon answered and rebuked as it was with Moses When Pharaoh would never hearken unto Moses but still fell to excuses and at last to deny all he would not let Israel go notwithstanding all that Moses could urge but said to Moses Exod. 10.29 Get thee from me take heed to thy self see my face no more Moses then answered Thou hast spoken well I will seâ thy face no more So it is with conscience When men have been obstinate and have refused to heare it and woulâ have it speak no more Thou hast welâ spoken saith conscience henceforth I will trouble you no more but let you alone to take your course I will advise you no more or if I do I will not be any more imporâunate 4. A fourth cause is that men do wilfully stop the mouth of conscience âf it beginneth to speak presently they âusie themselves about other things or if that will not do they runne into companie and there spend their time that the howlings of conscience may not be heard and if still it be loud they strike up the drumme and ring all ââe bells that the voice of it may be ââterly drowned and so conscience at last is content to stand by to heare and see say nothing By this means many ââmes it falleth out that those who âave had very turbulent and clamouâus consciences not suffering them ãâã be quiet have at last tamed them ââd put them quite to silence or if ââey do speak it is so coldly and reâissely that they care not whether they â obeyed or no. Oh these are damnaâe and devilish devises Whoever ye âe that do thus ye are in a dangerous estate and ye carry the brands of hell and damnation upon you If ever you desire to avoyd this dangerous estate then shun the cause Labour to have your conscience throughly illightned and informed by the word of God that it may reade you your duty A friend that knoweth but little can give but little counsel Again give heed evermore to the counsel of conscience You know Achitophel took it ill that his counsel was not followed therefore he made away himself in displeasure So conscience will take it very ill if its counsel be not followed it will strangle it self and smother it self you shall hear no more of it Especially take heed you do not reject conscience nor offer violence to it If you do you will make it unfaithfull and remisse and then you lose the best means under heaven of your good Then deadnesse of spirit succeedeth and hardnesse of heart taketh place and you deprive your souls of all possibility of cure As long as a sick man hath any possibility of cure he is still under hope but if ever he lost that he is gone Conscience is the possibilitie of the soul to amendment and therefore if you dull conscience and make conscience remisse and unfaithfull you take the ready way to deprive your selves of all possibility of rising again Consider these things and have a care of your consciences And thus we have handled the office of conscience about things to be done and omitted with its adjuncts affections and properties in that behalf I âome now to consider the office of conscience about things already done or omitted together with the affections of conscience in the discharge of that office The office of conscience about things already done or omitted THis hath foure parts 1. To approve 2. To absolve 3. To âislike 4. To condemne according âo the good or evil of our actions or âomissions The judgement is not onely of the things what they are but whither they tend and what they will âroduce I. An approving conscience FIrst when that which is done is good conscience approveth it as Paul saith This is our rejoycing the testimony of our conscience 2. Cor. 1.12 When he had lived uprightly and sincerely his conscience approved of it so when he had great sorrow and heavinesse for his brethren his conscience approved it Rom. 9.1 my conscience bearing me witnesse saith he So at his latter end we may see how his conscience approved the whole course of his life 2. Tim. 4.7 8. I have finished my course I have kept the faith c. there is consciences approbation of him from henceforth saith he is laid up for me a crown of righteousnesse there is consciences judgement concerning the issue of it Conscience so approveth every particular good action done by a faithfull man that by it he may gather a testimony of the uprightnesse of his heart as Hezekiah Remember Lord that I have walked uprightly before thee 1. John 3.14 Hereby we know that we are translated from death to life because we love the brethren Mark Love to Gods children is a sufficient testimony not onely of our uprightnesse in that particular act but also of the simplicity of our hearts in the generall and that we are translated from death to life So when good old Simeon had now even finished his dayes see what an approbation his conscience gave of him Luke 2.29 Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word His conscience here gave a threefold blessed approbaââon of him 1. That he had been Gods ââithfull servant thy servant 2. That he had walked in the wayes of true peace and comfort depart in peace 3. That the promise of Gods word was his in particular according to thy word II. An absolving conscience THe second part of the office of conscience is to absolve and acquit âhus Samuel pleading his innocency âd his conscience testifying for him âhose ox have I taken 1. Sam. 12.3 or whom have I deâauded and his conscience absolved âm as clear and free from those sins Thus also Job If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherlesse when I saw my help in the gate If I rejoyced because my wealth is great If I have not given my bread to the hungry or if I have rejoyces at the misery of mine enemie then let iâ be thus and thus to me His consciencâ absolved him as clear of those sinnes Nay the conscience of a child of God doth
reasons why God hath given us a conscience the light that it acteth by the offices of it and the affections of it Now from all these proceed two other adjuncts of conscience 1. A quiet conscience 2. An unquiet conscience A quiet conscience COncerning a quiet conscience three things are to be considered 1. What a quiet conscience is 2. How it differeth from that quiet conscience which is in the wicked 3. The examination whether we have this quiet conscience or no. I. For the first What a quiet conscience is It is that which neither doth nor can accuse us but giveth an honourable testimony of us in the course of our lives and conversations ever since we were regenerate I put that in too for 1. we do not begin to live till we be regenerate and 2. we can never have a true quiet conscience till then Such a quiet conscience had good Obadiah 1. Kings 18.12 I fear the Lord from my youth saith his conscience This was a very honourable testimony that his conscience gave him Such a quiet conscience had Enoch Heb. 11.5 Before his translation he received this testimony that he pleased God Dicente scripturâ inquit ille Haymo saith this testimony was the testimony of scripture Gen. 5.24 where it is said that he walked with God This is true but this is not all The text saith not there was such a testimony given of him but he had it and that before his translation but the testimony of Moses was after his translation Therefore it was the testimony of his conscience that bore witnesse within that he pleased God So that this is a quiet conscience which neither doth nor can accuse us but giveth an honourable testimony of us in the whole course of our life and conversation Now to such a quiet conscience there be three things necessary 1. Uprightnesse 2. Puritie 3. Assurance of Gods love and favour First uprightnesse is when a man is obedient indeed Many will be obedient but they are not obedient indeed not humbled indeed not reformed indeed What it is to be obedient indeed ye may see Exod. 23.22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his voyce and do all that I shall speak c. Mark that is obedience indeed when we do all that God speaketh and are obedient in all things This is an upright conscience when the heart is bent to obedience in all things An example we meet with in Paul Acts 23.1 I have lived in all good conscience before God untill this day His conscience could not accuse him of any root of wickednesse and corruption allowed and cherished in him That is an upright conscience Hast thou such a conscience as this My conscience can truly bear witnesse there is no sinne I favour my self in allow my self in but condemne all strive against all Thus David proveth that his conscience was upright If I regard iniquitie in my heart the Lord will not heare my prayer The regarding of any iniquity will not stand with uprightnesse A second thing required to a true quiet conscience is puritie Though ouâ heart be upright and stand generally bent to do the Lords will yet if we be guiltie of some particular sinne this will hinder the quiet of our conscience Therefore saith Paul 1. Cor. 4.4 I know nothing by my self that is no thing to acoâ me no corruption no root of unbeliââ reigning in him Infirmities he haâ many and frailties he had many and hâ knew them but he knew nothing ãâã accuse him Whatever was amisse iâ him his conscience told him he useâ all holy means against it If thy conscience can truly say thus also of thee then hast thou a truly quiet conscience Thirdly Assurance of Gods love favour and pardon Though we have fallen into great sinnes yet our consciences may have quiet if we can be truly assured of Gods love and favour in the pardon of them Heb. 10.2 The Apostle proveth that the sacrifices of the law could not purge away sinne but onely Christs bloud can do it His argument to prove it is this Because those sacrifices could not free a man from having conscience of sinne they could not purge the conscience but Christs bloud can After assurance of pardon in Christs bloud conscience can no more condemne for sinne how many or how great soever the sinnes were which have been committed These are the three things required to a true quiet conscience Furthermore a quiet conscience implieth two things 1. A calmnesse of spirit 2. A chearfull merry and comfortable heart These two I mean when I speak of a quiet conscience 1. A calmnesse of spirit or a quietnesse of mind not troubled with the burden of sinne nor the wrath of God nor terrified with the judgements due unto sinne This quietnesse and calmnesse of spirit is promised to all them that truly hearken unto Christ and obey him Prov. 1.33 Whoso hearkeneth to me shall be quiet from fear of evil 2. A chearfull merry and joyfull heart When our conscience giveth a comfortable testimonie of us it cannot but make our hearts joyfull 2. Cor. 1.12 This is our rejoycing the testimonie of our conscience saith Paul The comfortable testimonie which his conscience gave of him made him to rejoyce A wicked man cannot truly rejoyce no though he be merrie and joviall and laugh yet his carnall estate is a snare he can have no true joy but the righteous sing and rejoyce Prov. 29.6 No mirth like the mirth of a good conscience All other joy is but outside painted seeming joy That is onely true joy that is rooted in the comfortable testimonie of an upright good conscience which telleth a man his peace is made with God and that whether he be in sicknesse or in health God loveth him whether he live or die he is the Lords Thus ye see what a quiet conscience is How a quiet conscience in the godly differeth from the quiet conscience that is in the wicked THe second thing propounded to be considered about a quiet conscience is How it differeth from that quiet conscience which is in the wicked 1. I confesse that the wicked seem to have a very quiet conscience Many thousands of carnall people seem to live and the in quiet Look into alehouses lewd houses into all places who so merrie and brisk and heart-whole as they say as they who have no saving grace Job 21.23 Yet 2. this quiet conscience in them must needs differ from the quiet conscience of the children of God Certainly the Lord will not give the childrens bread unto dogs neither will he smile upon their souls neither doth he pardon the sinnes nor accept the persons of the ungodly And therefore if they have a quiet conscience it must needs differ from that iâ the godly Must not copper needs differ from gold And we who are the Lords messengers must teach you the difference Ezek. 44.23 They shall teach my people thâ
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
of some wicked men who are enemies to God then we might see and understand the true weight and burden of this troubled conscience Cain crieth out of more then he can bear Judas thought to find more ease in hell then in his own heart So terrible was the torture of his troubled conscience that he murdered himself thinking verily that hell could not be worse Vse 2 2. See here what an infinite misery every sinner shall one day be in Though he be not troubled with this harpye for the present though he be not yet gastered with this furious hag yet the day will come when he shall I say the time will come when all ye that are wicked shall be haunted with this hellish agony of a troubled conscience either here before ye die or when ye die or at furthest when your souls are departed out of your bodies This is unavoydable to all that live and continue in sinne Though for a while ye live in mirth and pleasure and securitie and conscience letteth you alone though like Nabal to day ye feast and make merry yet there is a conscience within you an Abigail which to morrow will tell you of it and then your hearts will die within you and be like stones 1. Sam. 25.37 as cold and as heavie as a stone within you As Samuel met with Saul 1 Sam. 15.26 Because thou hast forsaken the Lord the Lord also hath forsaken thee so conscience will find you out However for a while ye slight and neglect it or else perhaps suppresse it yet it will find you out as Eliah did Ahab and then ye will say as he did Hast thou found me 1. Kings 21.20 O mine enemy yea I have found thee Thou hast sold thy self to work wickednesse in the sight of the Lord thou hast been a profane beast thou hast run against heaven and against God and Christ and thy life hath been full of rebellions c. now I have found thee out The day will come when thy conscience shall be like Jobs messenger Ye know what news the messengers brought Job first news of one great evil and then of another greater and then of a third worst of all cattel and goods taken away servants dead sonnes and daughters dead I onely am left alive to tell thee So I say the time will come when conscience shall thus report Thy pleasures are dead thy profits are dead thy comforts are dead thy heart is dead thy soul is cursed and must die for ever and I onely am left alive to tell thee And then he shall crie our Cursed was I that ever I was born and cursed be the womb that bare me and the paps that gave me suck Then shalt thou mourn at the last when thy flesh and thy bodie are consumed and thy conscience shall say How have I hated instruction and my heart despised reproof I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers nor enclined mine ears to them that instructed me Such dolefull messages conscience will bring in one day and then it shall hisse like a snake in thy bosome Know now that for all these things thou shalt come to judgement And so thy conscience shall bray thee like a fool in a mortar as it were with a pestill and it shall pounce thee and beat thee and distresse thee for evermore This is the moth that getteth into the cloth and doth eat it Psal 39.11 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquitie thou makest his beautie to consume away like as when a moth fretteth a garment This will make thy face gather blacknesse and thy spirit be overwhelmed for evermore I must adde another use yet For all this is the law and untill ye be in Christ ye are all under the law the curse of it the rigour of it And we are bound to tell you how ye shall find it if ye do not submit to the righteousnesse of Christ But though we do preach the law yet we do preach it in the hand of a mediatour saith Paul Gal. 8.19 a terrible killing law but yet in a mercifull hand in the hand of a mediatour to drive us to seek for mercie and therefore Vse 3 The third use shall be to call upon you to be humbled and to see that there is no living for you in your sinnes Go and stoop to Christ Jesus who onely can purge your guiltie consciences by his bloud I beseech you consider ye who yet abide in your sinfull estates and are yet in the flesh I beseech you consider what the event will one day be If ye will not look out your consciences will find you out at the last and then wo be to you Your consciences will make all things grievous and bitter to you even those things which in themselves are most sweet and good When ye heare of heaven of mercie of the bloud of Christ these will but encrease your miserie conscience will say You have no part in them When you heare the word any promise or comfortable passage in it your conscience will say Yea this is my miserie I have no share in these things This will be a hell unto you and will torment you before your time This will also make all outward good things bitter unto you When you see wife and children and friends then conscience will whisper and say I shall not have these long ere long I shall have none but damned companie When you see your goods estates and the like conscience will mutter Alas ere long I shall be in a place where a drop of water shall not be afforded me to cool my tongue When you see the light and other comfortable objects O wo is me I shall shortly be in a place where I shall see nothing but darknesse utter and everlasting darknesse Conscience will make your afflictions intolerable your sicknesse intolerable your death-bed intolerable the face of death intolerable I beseech you brethren consider these things you that have not felt a troubled conscience untill this houre Ye hardly know yet what it is ye will know it to your sorrow if you do not consider it There is a phrase in Ezek. 30.24 where God saith he will make Pharaoh grone with the gronings of a man deadly wounded So it will be with you if you will not hearken and submit to Jesus Christ conscience will make you grone with fearfull grones O wo is me I am undone without hope without remedie Consider this therefore and be wise before the things which concern your peace be hidden from you And let me the rather exhort Exhortation you to this in regard of the danger of the times The Lords wrath is gone out and his judgements do flie through the earth and his plagues do fall on every side of us What will your guiltie consciences do now oh you can never endure them Ye had need of purged consciences now lest ye be quite comfortlesse in the day of visitation
but it is the cause of our perceiving the same We know we have peace by reason of our obedience 1. John 2.29 We know that every one that doeth righteousnesse is born of God We know we are passed from death to life 1. John 3.14 1. John 4.13 because we love the brethren Hereby we know that we dwell in him and he in us by the spirit that he hath given us Mark we come to know it by obedience and by the fruits of obedience Take away obedience we can never know peace They that walk by this rule Gal. 6.16 peace shall be upon them and upon the Israel of God saith the Apostle Thirdly our peace of conscience dependeth on our obedience as the confirming cause Christ confirmeth our peace to us by making us walk close to him and obedient unto him Paul sheweth how it preserveth peace as a shoe preserveth the foot ye know if we should walk without shoes barefoot our feet would be in danger of pricking and hurting So doth obedience to the Gospel preserve our peace Stand Ephes 6.15 saith the Apostle having your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace Mark he compareth it to a shoe which he would have us shod with and then it will be the Gospel of peace to us and our peace shall be in safety Fourthly our peace dependeth upon our obedience not onely as a signe of true peace nor onely as a guard to it but as a thing pleasing to God without the which we displease God For though God be pleased with his children alwayes in Christ yet he is not pleased that any in Christ should be disobedient to him 1. Thess 4.1 Ye have received of ââ how ye ought to walk and to please God saith the Apostle When Gods children walk in obedience that is pleasing unto God So that peace of conscience doth greatly depend on obedience For otherwise conscience will be troubled O I do not please God This is displeasing unto God and This doth provoke God Not as though there were any such perfection in our obedience that can satisfie any tittle of Gods law but because when our persons are pleasing to God in Jesus Christ then our obedience to God is pleasing too in Jesus Christ and conscience will say it Thus much shall suffice for answer to the second question III. Question What manner of obedience it is that peace of conscience dependeth upon The reason of this question is this Because it should seem there is no such obedience in this life as any peace of conscience should depend on Doth not James say In many things we sinne all Doth not our Saviour say When ye have done all that ye can say We are unprofitable servants If our conscience can still say that we are unprofitable and that we do sinne in every thing that we do yea in many things in all the duties we go about if our consciences can say thus How can any peace depend upon obedience What obedience do you mean that peace of conscience dependeth upon I answer 1. Absolute perfection in obedience is not required unto evangelicall peace For if it were no man could have peace no not Paul nor Abraham nor any of the holiest of Gods children and therefore absolute perfection is not required If we say we have not sinned we make Christ a liar and his word is not in us 1. John 1.10 Our conscience can still say we have sinned and it can still say our obedience is imperfect A halting leg can never go perfectly A Jacob is called he that halteth and every godly soul halteth Though he do not halt between two as wicked people do yet he halteth in following after God What purblind eye can see perfectly or thick eare heare perfectly He that hath these imperfections of body can neither go nor see nor heare perfectly So the best of Gods children have imperfections of heart and spirit and mind their faith is imperfect their love is imperfect and therefore their obedience must needs be imperfect But absolute perfection is not required to true peace of conscience and therefore this doth not hinder it 2. Though absolute perfection be not required to peace yet such obedience is required as may be acceptable to God So saith the Apostle 2. Cor. 5.9 We labour that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him Such obedience we must shew as may be accepted of him or we cannot have true peace If our endevours be not acceptable our conscience will quickly heare of it and tell us so If we pray coldly or heare unprofitably or live loosely if we do not do that which is acceptable to God our consciences will soon complain Nay though we do do the duties if we do not do them in an acceptable manner conscience will have matter against us still 3. This acceptablenesse of obedience lieth in this when our obedience is sincere universall and totall and proceeding from the spirit of Christ Jesus dwelling in us The Apostle giveth it this phrase When we walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit Rom. 8.4 That is our fulfilling the law when Christ hath fulfilled the law for us and maketh us sincerely to walk by it not after the flesh but after the Spirit when we do not favour our selves in one lust nor suffer our selves in any beloved sinne but whatever it be that is evil our conscience can say we truly do hate it and labour to avoid it whatever it be that is commanded us be it never so contrary to our nature yet our conscience can say we sincerely set our selves to do it So walking not after the flesh but after the Spirit this is sincerity of obedience and this is required unto peace 4. This sincerity of obedience maketh us to bewail our very infirmities and to be humbled for them not onely to be humbled for greater sinnes but also to be humbled for our infirmities If we be not soundly humbled for our very infirmities also they will hinder the peace of our conscience We can have no peace except our conscience can witnesse that our infirmities do humble us and drive us to Christ and cause us to sue out a pardon If conscience have not a pardon sealed for infirâities also it will not be at peace Christ bare our very infirmities Matth. 8.17 therefore we must be humbled for them Matth. 8.17 and go to him for pardon of them too or conscience will not be at peace Thus I have answered also this third question IV. Question How if a man have a burdened and troubled conscience what must he do to be freed from it The reason of this question is this Because men are ignorant about it When men are troubled in conscience and burdened a little that way presently they daub all with peace and go a wrong way to work This course the Lord doth complain of in the false prophets who preached too much peace
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
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