Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
conscience_n	faith_n	good_a	timothy_n	1,872	5	11.8568	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01737	The stewards last account Deliuered in fiue sermons vpon the sixteenth chapter of the gospell by Saint Luke, the first and second verses. By Robert Bagnall, Minister of the Word of God, at Hutton in Somersetshire.	Bagnall, Robert, b. 1559 or 60.	1622 (1622)	STC 1187; ESTC S119158	78,252	118

griefe of Conscience is an inward tormenting of the soule Vpon 1. Cor. 11. void of Faith Hope and Charitie which Melancthon calleth Erinnys Conscientiae that is to say an hellish Hagge or infernall Fury of the Conscience A wronged Conscience is neuer quiet neuer at rest but makes her possessour to flee hither and thither and seeke to depart from her Tom. 8. fol. 286. but he cannot Augustine in his enarration of Psalme 45. saith that he which hath a violated conscience will flee ab agro ad cinitatem à publico ad domum à domo in cubiculum that is he will flee out of field into the City out of the Citie into his house out of his house into his Chamber and what there Ecce hostem inuenit quò fugiturus est nempe seipsum and there he finds the enemy that he would flee from to wit himselfe These torments are the most grieuous torments Aristides And therefore Lucan truely although mournefully said of an afflicted conscience Heu quantum misero poenae mens conscia donat Alas what punishment the filly wretch endureth by reason of his guilty conscience Esay 57.21 Act. 24.16 Such a one hath no peace Let vs therefore with Paul endeuour yea exercise our selues to haue alwayes a cleere conscience towards God and towards men Let vs take the counsell that Paul gaue to Timothy 1. Tim. 1. Fight that is earnestly striue that we may haue Faith a good conscience For quaenam summae boni Mens quae sibi conscia recti Prou. 15.15 A good Conscience is a continuall feast the cheere ioy in the Holy Ghost and the Musicke such a peace with God our neighbours and our selues as passeth all vnderstanding Rom. 14.17 Fiftly the very sinnes which a man committeth are said in the Booke of God to accuse reproue and condemne him Ieremy in his second Chapter said vnto the Iewes Thine owne wickednesse shall reproue thee and thy turning away shall condemne thee For as the workes of the godly do follow them ad defendendum exhilarandum Reu. 14.13 to defend and cheere them so the workes of the wicked do follow them ad accusandum contristandum to accuse make them sad Among the sinnes that cry vnto God against man and most grieuously accuse him there are foure detestable sinnes as some will but I reduce them to two The first crying sinne First is the shedding of innocent bloud the greatest wrong that can be wrought to humane nature euen worse then the taking away of a mans goods for they may bee restored but mortall life neuer Besides this as much as in the murtherer lyeth he taketh away from the party killed all time to dispose and set things in order and also to repent that the man may obtaine remission of his sinnes This is not a dormient and silent but a crying sinne This sinne was in Cain that bloudy butcher killing his godly and innocent brother Abel vnto whom God said Behold the voice of thy Brothers bloud cryeth vnto mee out of the ground Gen. 4.10 Secondly The second crying sinne the oppression of the poore lifting vp their voices vnto God their reuenger who heareth helpeth them As in the 12. Psalme ver 5. At the crying of the poore I will vp saith the LORD Siracides 30. God hath no respect of persons against the poore but doth heare the prayer of him that is wronged hee will not neglect the prayer of the fatherlesse nor the widdow if she complaine Doe not the widdowes teares goe down her cheekes but they cry out to God on high into Heauen against him that hath caused the same And such a sinne as this was that sinne of Pharaoh his exaction Exod. 5. imposition and cruell oppression of the Israelites And very aptly to this purpose may be applyed the crying of hirelings defrauded of their hire by the rich whereof Iames speaketh Chap. 5.7 saying Behold the hire of Labourers which haue reaped your fields which is of you kept back by fraud cryeth and the cryes of them which haue reaped are entred into the eares of the Lord of Hosts And of this sort was the cry against Sodom and Gomorrha whereof God speaketh Gen. 18.21 O beloued beware of these hainous sinnes and assure your selues that neither these nor other the least sinnes that we commit shall goe vnpunished without vnfained repentance and quicke apprehension of the merits of Christ Iesus by a true and liuely faith And so much of the two crying sinnes Sixtly the creatures abused not onely the sensible creature groaning and trauelling in paine till it be deliuered from the bondage of corruption and vanity Rom. 8. which against it will it suffereth vnder the wicked but euen the very senselesse creature Habuc 2.11 Iam. 5.2 The stone crying out of the wall and the beame out of the timber answering it The moth of the garment and the rust of the cankred gold witnessing against the couetous worldlings yea the dead letter of the Bible cryeth and accuseth as Christ sheweth in the Gospell Ioh. 5.45 Doe not thinke saith hee that I will accuse you to my Father there is one that accuseth you euen Moses in whom yee trust that is The law or writings of Moses shall accuse you for playing the bad Stewards To conclude the heauens shall declare his wickednesse and the earch shall take part against him as Zophar said Iob 20.27 Let vs therefore not deceiue our selues thinking that our abuses in our Stewardship will not be known to the Lord for although he knoweth all things already yet the Scriptures speaking after the manner of men tell vs that many criminations and accusations one after another will come out against vs and be brought before the Lord stirring him to reuengement And yet alas how carelesse man is in this point He without any care or feare of God abuseth his creatures euen sensible and liuing things that are subiect to vanitie and the touching and abuses of him Man when hee hurteth any liuing creature will laugh and reioyce at such times as he is willing to exhilarate himselfe withall when the creature it selfe being subiect to vanitie the touching and abuses of the wicked doth grone for sorrow and man at his pleasure will kill the same But yet hee considereth not that for these his abuses and other his wickednesses if he repent not hee shall himselfe die eternally O sinfull impietie mercilesse cruelty and carelesse securitie from the which God deliuer vs. So much concerning the accusers of the bad Steward The capitall and deadly faults and haynous crimes whereof the euill Steward is and shall bee accused are these 5. 1. Infidelitie 2. Crueltie 3. Slothfulnesse 4. Ill company-keeping 5. Wastfulnesse First vnfaithfulnesse and falsehood for whereas faithfulnesse is required in the Lords disposers and they should so carry themselues in their offices that they may be called faithfull and wise Math.

of fire This doth Iames teach vs saying Iam. 5.1 2 3. Goe to now ye rich men weepe and howle for your miseries that shall come vpon you your riches are corrupt and your garments are moth-eaten your gold and siluer is cankred and the rust of them shall be a witnesse against you and shall eate your flesh as it were fire Ye haue heaped vp treasures for the last dayes How foolish then are greedie couetous men Rom. 1. which heape vp wrath against the day of wrath and of the declaration of the iust iudgement of God Mat. 5. How much better were it for them to lay vp treasures not vpon earth where the rust and moth doth corrupt and where theeues breake thorow and steale but rather to lay vp treasures in heauen where neither rust nor moth doth corrupt and where theeues doe not breake thorow nor steale Fourthly a mans conscience shall witnesse with him or against him as the Apostle doth testifie Rom. 2. speaking thus of the Gentiles When the Gentiles saith he which haue not the Law doe of nature the things conteined in the Law they hauing not the Law are a law vnto themselues which shew the effect of the Law written in their hearts their conscience also bearing witnesse and their thoughts accusing one another or excusing at the day when God shall iudge the secrets of men by Iesus Christ according to my Gospel Note I beseech you the Apostles words He saith That the conscience of the Gentiles shall beare witnesse and he telleth when she shall doe this to wit when God shall iudge the secrets of men by Iesus Christ meaning the day of Iudgement But that I may speake more plainely note I beseech you beloued Christians that as mens doings are two-fold good or bad They are good which proceed from faith and are agreeable to the Law of God and they are euill which proceed from infidelitie and are repugnant to the Lawes of God So the motions of mens hearts are two-fold either ioyfull which concomitate good deedes or sorrowfull which alwayes accompany euill deedes Hereupon it commeth to passe that one Conscience may bee called good another bad Omnis Conscientia cum scientia Now a good conscience is a ioyfull motion of the heart arising from a certaine knowledge of wel-doing or it is the iudgement of the mind grounded vpon knowledge concerning a mans good deeds ministring ioy vnto him Hereupon Paul said Our reioycing is this the testimonie of a good conscience 2. Cor. 1.12 Paul bended his wit and will and laboured earnestly to haue a good conscience towards God and man and he had such an one and with it could truly say I am pure from the blood of all men And further at his end his conscience so comforted strengthened and emboldened him that he without any scruple or hesitation 2. Tim. 4.7.8 said I haue fought a good fight I haue finished my course I haue kept the faith c. A good conscience makes a merrie heart whiles wee liue makes vs to sleepe more quietly then if we layd our heades on a Doune-pillow and when death approcheth she causeth man not to feare to die and then will not forsake him when all worldly vanities and shadowes vanish fade away and yet she wil doe him the best seruice that she can shee will plead for him and witnesse with him O what a treasure is a good conscience She is as it were mount Tabor a glimpse of glory vpon earth a comfortresse of thy heart at the houre of death and a faithfull friend and witnesse to stand by thee at the day of Iudgement when thou shalt haue most need But an euill conscience is in this world as it were an hellish Hagge an infernall Furie euer tormenteth man followeth him she alwayes keepeth a true record of all mans euill thoughts words and workes troubleth man with direfull suggestions and temptations she is neuer at peace and quietnesse she bringeth man to destruction as it may appeare by the examples of Cain Iudas Arrius and many others and yet she hath not done but continuing an enemy at the last Day will witnesse against a man all his sinnes his swearing forswearing lying stealing iniuries oppressions and all other his workes of the flesh and darknesse She will not nor cannot forget them For all mens faults are so perfectly knowne vnto her and so firmely impressed in her that shee is compared to a booke a booke of remembrance wherein all things are so perfectly recorded that they cannot be forgotten Reu. 20 12. Iob saith Thou hast sealed vp our sinnes in a bagge to shew the exact and strict kind of keeping of them against that Day of account So that not an euill thought not an euil word not an euill deed can be forgotten they are all so surely recorded and the time of opening this booke and reading them ouer to the hearing of the world is the day of Iudgement For then all mens faults shall be knowne and in them that haue offended they shall be punished Foolish men and women think that all their wicked thoughts all their idle and euill words passe away with the wind but it is not so for in this booke they are written and recorded and once the booke shall be opened and thy secret sinnes discouered Now if we come to the liues of men and women alasse they are most wicked they are nothing else but a continuall practice of sinne Well let vs labour to keepe a good conscience an vnblotted and vnblurred booke and then we shall preuent and escape the danger The booke and touchstone of the triall The Booke and touchstone whereby all our thoughts words and workes shall be examined and tried is the Word of God it is I say the Rule and Line by which they ought to be leuelled squared and wrought by The Apostle Paul saith Rom. 1.16 That at the day of Iudgement God shall iudge the secrets of men by Iesus Christ according to his Gospel he meaneth that Gospel whereof he was a preacher not an authour Our thoughts words and workes must be tryed by the Word of God If therefore our thoughts words and workes are not agreeable to the Word of God to Gods rules and commandements they are as odious distastefull and vnpleasing vnto the Lord as the offering vp of brused things were in the time of the Law Therefore let the Word of God O man be a lanterne to thy feet and a light vnto thy pathes that thou mayest not wander out of the old ancient wayes of the Lord but goe the straight wayes to Heauen alwayes directing thy steps by this Word of God When the poore wretched sinner accused by his own thoughts is found culpable in his words and workes and is conuicted by euident and plaine testimonies as before because he made no conscience of his wayes and neuer directed his goings according to the Word of God behold in what lamentable