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
A16543	The importunate begger for things necessary, or necessity, without deniall Or a treatise, wherein is shewed the lawfullnesse of praying absolutely for necessary temporall things, without doubting or wavering, and that the saints of God may and ought, as absolutely depend upon God, for their dayly bread, as they may for the pardon of their sinnes, and that the cause is in themselves, who doe not obtaine them. Whereunto is annexed an answer to Mr. Norrice his 5 arguments, which were framed against it, together with an answer to his Prosopopeia, wherein, as well the insufficiency of those arguments, as the deceitfullnesse of his collections, is plainely manifested by R.B.	Boye, Rice.	1635 (1635)	STC 3450; ESTC S106818	69,334	88

is that our Apostle Iames doeth lay downe a rule how to pray But let him aske in faith nothing wavering Iames 1.6 In which words are condemned by the Apostle as a sinne all wavering doubting prayers which he doeth proove in the insuing words by three severall things The first is by a similitude he that wavereth and doubteth in prayer is like a wave in the sea driven with the wind and tossed and therefore they please not God Secondly he prooveth it by a reason drawen from the discommodity which it bringeth It doeth hinder a man from the obtaining the thing he desireth Thirdly hee doeth condemne it by a generall sentence received as true of all men A wavering minded man is unstable in all his wayes Thus it is plaine that wavering and doubting in prayer is by the holy Ghost condemned as a sinne and the contrary namely solide certaine and undaunted confidence required And surely concerning the thing in hand we may say with a Domesticke writer If faith be a vertue then doubting is a vice for certainly as we sayd before it is unresistable whatsoever is not of faith is sinne Adde unto all this the definitions of prayer as we find them recorded by our owne Divines By some it is defined thus To make prayer is to put up request to God according to his word from a contrite heart in the name of Christ with full assurance to be heard This last clause saith the Author is so necessary in prayer as that the want of it maketh prayer no prayer for saith hee how can a man pray for any thing effectuallie who doubteth whether he shall obtaine it or no. Whereupon hee concludeth that prayer must be made with faith whereby a man must have certaine assurance to be heard By others it is defined thus Prayer is an ardent affection tending unto God whereby wee aske and looke for onely from God in Christ things belonging to soule and body Secundum ipsius mandatum promissiones according to that which he hath commaunded to aske and promised to give Againe Calvine doeth define it thus Est enim quaedam hominum cum Deo communicatio c. It is a certaine communication or talking of men with God whereby they entring the heavenly Sanctuary they doe speake or mention unto him as it were face to face his promises and that they beleeve that whatsoever the word doeth warrant unto them non fuisse vanum it cannot be in vaine All these definitions tend to one and the same purpose in them all the point is verified That faith without wavering is necessary required in all prayer as well for temporall as spirituall blessings And to what end sayth Calvine doeth our Saviour so often say to the diseased according to thy faith be it unto thee but to manifest unto us quod citra fidem nihil consequi nos posse that without faith we cannot nor may not exspect to receive any thing at the hands of God And surely if our prayers are not grounded upon faith t is but a vaine thing once to thinke that they will profit Wherefore good Christian Reader I beseech thee in the bowels of mercy in Christ Iesus ponder well and consider this ground thy prayer upon faith and thy faith upon Gods Word aske what thou doest aske according to his revealed will walke within thy limits keepe faith and a good conscience wrestle with God as did Iacob Gen. 32. and then feare not to call thy self by the name of Israel for as a Prince shalt thou have power with God and with men and shalt prevaile Call not Gods power into question doubt not of his willingnesse to succour thee neither stagger at any of his promises no not at those which he hath made unto thee for thy dayly maintenance for surely they are all faithfull thou mayest absolutely without all doubt depend upon them which is our second branch and the reason of the former That the Saints of God may and ought as absolutelie depend upon the promises of God for their daily bread .i. for things necessarie as they may for the pardon of their sinnes is also easily justifiable by the Scriptures It is indifferently acknowledged by our whole Church that the promises of God concerning the pardon of sinnes and life eternall ought absolutely to be depended upon God without any scruple What shall the promises concerning the soule which is the greater be relied upon and beleeved and shall the truth of the promises concerning the body which is the lesse be suspected If I have told you earthlie things sayth Christ Ioh. 3.12 ye beleeve me not how shall ye beleeve if I tell you heavenlie things If wee dare not give credit to the lesse how shall wee beleeve the greater for our faith hath all one ground The ground of our depending upon God for soule or body is his promises which God in Christ absolutely made to all his servants as the Apostle prooveth 2. Cor. 1.10 All the promises as well temporaries as spiritualls are in Christ Yea and in him Amen Hee is faithfull in every one of them yea for the keeping of the least he hath layd his credit to pawne and if God failes in any of his promises his credit must needs suffer But our Apostle hath remooued this doubt Heb. 10.23 Fidelis Dominus the Lord is faithfull that promiseth And upon this foundation as I sayd before is our faith and confident depending upon God grounded He hath promised to save me Mal. 3.16 They shall be mine saith the Lord. Hee hath promised never to forsake me nor to leave me Iosuah 1.5 I will not leave thee nor forsake thee Hee hath promised to comfort me in distresse Psal 91.15 I will be with him in trouble Hee hath promised to give me things necessary for my bodily sustenance Psal 37.19 In the dayes of famine they shall be satisfied and because he hath made these promises therefore I beleeve them Finally he hath promised to heare any petition that I shall make unto him according to his will and therefore I have this confidence in him and will come boldly to the throne of grace for he is faithfull that promiseth Wherefore seeing the promises both of temporall and eternall favours are equally absolute and seeing God is faithfull in all his promises as well in the one fort as he is in the other it must needs be that the Saints unto whom onely the promises belong may and ought as absolutely depend upon those concerning this life as they may upon those concerning the life to come Now that the promises are equally absolute which indeed is the onely thing to proove it doeth plainely appeare by divers places first the Apostle St. Peter in the 2. Epistle chap. 1.3 doeth assure us that the Lord and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ hath given unto us all things that pertaine unto life and godlynesse Hence it is that St. Iohn in his first Epistle chap. 5. writing to all

heyres of the promises who hath also given unto us such priviledge ut Deum blandissimo Patris nomine invocare nobis liceat that it is lawfull for us to invocate God through him by that excellent comfortable name of a loving Father Num ergo dubitabimus saith one and shall wee now doubt that a loving Father full of pitty and compassion will deny his sonnes any thing which he hath commaund them to aske and promised to give Oh no this was to judge him unfaithfull that promiseth and to make God a lyer as St. Iohn sayth he that beleeveth not God hath made him a lyer 1. Iohn 5.10 Let this our judgement then dearely beloved remaine good by authority from Moses and the Prophets from Christ and his Apostles namely that the promises for temporall necessaries are absolute and may and ought absolutely be depended upon by his servants without wavering and then I doubt not but in the last place this being graunted thou wilt find and confesse this also to be true That the cause is in themselves who doe not obtaine them which is our third and last head springing as a branch from the roote of the former heads and comes next to be prooved The two former heads being graunted to be true which if truth take place it cannot be otherwise this also must of necessity follow For absolute faith being required in all prayer the promises concerning life and godlynesse upon which faith is grounded being of the same nature it must needs follow in the 3 place that whosoever doeth pray for these temporarie things the fault is in themselves if they doe not obtaine them God is not neither can he be sayd to be wanting But they are wanting Now that we may make this clearely appeare we must search the Scriptures and there enquire of God how many things he doeth require to be in all such prayers of his servants which he hath promised to grace with a gracious answer which is indeed a giving to him or them his poore petitioners the very thing or things petitioned The particular things required in prayer as we find them recorded by the holy Ghost in the Scriptures are five Whereof three are specified in one verse 1. Timoth. 2.8 I will therefore saith the Apostle that men pray everie where lifting up holie hands without wrath and doubting the fourth is spoken of by St. Iames 4.33 Wee must not aske any thing at the hands of God for any by-respect to consume it on our lusts The 5 and last thing required to be observed in prayer is declared by St. Iohn 1. Epist 5.14 wee must aske what we aske according to his will The want of some or one of these doubtlesse is the cause why God doth stop his eare at the cry of his servants when they pray unto him for things necessary either concerning soule or body Of these five particulars we will speake something as they lye in order that we may the easier discerne unto which of these when we aske and misse the fault is to be imputed for to the want of some or one of these it must needs be and first of the first It is required that we lift up holie hands To lift up holy hands in this place is all one as if he had sayd lift up holie hearts For manuum elevatio mentem elevandam esse docet So that the Apostles meaning in this place doth agree with that of the Heb. 10.22 where he doth wish us to draw neere to God with a true heart .i. with a sincere heart ab hypocrisi alieno voyd of hypocrisie called also of the Apostle in another place 1. Timoth. 1.5 Cor purum a pure heart or a heart purely affected and as the Apostle speaketh to the Heb. in the place before quoted a heart purified from an evill conscience which is all one with that of Paul to Timothy in the place before recited where he calls it a good conscience So then the Apostle doth require every one of us before wee presume to make prayer unto God to be truely exercised in the works of humiliation and repentance Every man must know the plague of his owne heart 1. Kings 8.38 .i. as is specified in the same chapter vers 47. Hee must bethinke himself and repent before he can exspect that the Lord will give an eare to his prayer nay this must be done before he have any warrant to pray at all Now that the want of lifting up holy hands unto God in prayer .i. the want of a pure heart a good conscience or of humiliation and repentance as we are to understand the words is one cause why God doth stop his eares at the cry of his servants the Lord himself doth plainely testify for this purpose read Isay 1. where ye shall finde that the Lord doth complaine of Israels rebellion and doth even upbraide their whole service To what purpose is the multitudes of your sacrifices to me saith the Lord Bring no more vaine oblations Your new moones and your appointed Feasts my soule hateth They are a trouble unto me I am wearie to beare them And sayth he vers 15. When ye spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you Yea when you make manie prayers I will not heare Your hands are full of blood Agreeing to this is that of the Prophet Zachary in his 7. chapter where the people enquired of the Lord whether they should weepe in the 5. moneth and seperate themselves as they had these so manie yeares unto which question the Lord answered by reprooving them in the 5.6.7 verses where hee doth tell them that when they did fast and weepe those 70. yeares they did it not unto him but for themselves they should have heard the words which the Lord cryed by the former Prophets which indeed they regarded not Wherefore the Lord bids the Prophet tell them what they should doe vers 9.10 when they did pray unto him and fast and wept unto him They had indeed fasted and wept a long time even 70. yeares but they prevayled not with God And the Prophet gives the reason vers 12. They refused to hearken and pulled away the shoulder and stopped their eares that they should not heare c. and therefore just it was with God to deale with them as he did vers 13. for he cryed and they would not heare and therefore when they cryed he would not heare as in that place he with his owne mouth doth witnesse Iustly then may the Lord when the people transgresse and rebell against him and will not be humbled hide and cover himself as the Prophet sayth Lament 3.44 with a cloud that their prayer shall not passe thorough and not so much as once as he speaketh Levit. 26.81 smell the savour of their sweete odours If thou regard evill in thy heart the Lord will not heare thee Thou mayest ly crying upon thy face with Iosuah but you shalt have the same answer with him Ios 7.10

pray absolutely to be delivred and if they are not delivered is the fault theirs too To remoove this doubt which some thinke doth contradict the point in hand wee are to consider that persecution for the testimony of faith and a good conscience is the legacy and portion of the faithfull as appeareth Math. 10. when our Saviour doth tell his Disciples that they were sent forth as sheep among wolves and that they should be hated of all men for his names sake and that many would thinke that they did God good service to kill them Ioh. 16.2 and therefore he tells them vers 33. that in the world they should have tribulation Neither is this the portion onely of the Apostles but also of every one that beleeveth by their preaching for all saith the Apostle 2. Tim. 3.13 that will live godly in Christ Iesus shall suffer persecution Now this portion of the Saints is not to be accounted neither is it a plague or a punishment upon them but a blessing as appeareth by our Saviours words Math. 5.10.11 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousnesse sake c. which words St. Peter repeatingly useth 1. Epist 3. and 4. chap. and the 14. verse Hence it was as I conceive seeing to be persecuted for the truth is such a blessed thing that those tortured Saints Heb. 11.35 accepted not deliverance that they might obtaine a better resurrection And this made St. Paul Act. 21.13 willing and ready not to be bound onely but also to dye at Ierusalem for the name of the Lord Iesus The promises being rightly considered it will follow that we have no warrant to pray at all against persecution that we shall not suffer seeing it is our portion yea and a blessed portion too neither would this petition put case a man did pray be agreable to Gods will which was the last thing required in prayer because hee doth not for ought I find command us to pray against persecution and promise us that wee shall not suffer All the prayers that they are to make in this case must be to desire the Lord that he would give them strength and patience manfully to persevere in the truth and that hee would make them instruments of his glory In a word then when the Saints of God in case of persecution for the Gospells sake are taken and by wicked hands deprived of temporall necessaries as of goods livings liberty and life and all we impute not these their sufferings to their want of faith and repentance it is their portion and they suffer it joyfully Heb. 10.34 Neither to their failing in any other particular God never promised that they should not suffer but we say as Christ speaketh Math. 10.18 They are brought before Kings and Governours for Gods sake for a testimony against them and the Gentils And indeed the sufferings and persecutions of the Saints doe exceedingly redound to Gods glory 1. Pet. 4.14 So in this case notwithstanding the Saints doe suffer the promise of God concerning outward things is not nullified but is still in force and fast to the beleever Neither doth this hinder us from praying absolutely for temporall necessaries in time of freedome neither can it proove that the faulte is not ours if in any other case wee are deprived of them For to be deprived of them for the Gospels sake is a blessing and the portion of Gods people but in any other case it is a plague and a punishment for sinne The first maketh for the advancement of Gods glory the latter is to worke in those upon whom it is layd humiliation and repentance So that now the answer of this question being rightly understood we are come againe clearely without rubbe to our former ground It is this when we begge and goe without a gift the thing desired it is because we want faith and repentance or faile in some or one of these particulars required in prayer for as much sayth Cyprian upon the Lords prayer as all things are Gods he that hath God can want nothing if he himself be not wanting unto God What now dearely beloved doth all this doctrine tend unto but to the humbling of us in our wants as also to the justifying of God in all his proceedings First it doth serve to the humbling of us in our wants in that by reason of our weaknesse and corruptions we have made our selves unworthy of many temporall blessings Oh then whatsoever thou art whensoever thou prayest unto God and hee will not be found of thee retire quickly to thine owne heart be jelous of him hee is deceitfull and say unto him Oh wretch thou hast caused my loving Father to frowne upon me and cover himself in a cloud so that my prayers cannot passe thorough either thou regardest sinne and hidest corruption within thee thou art stubborne and wilt not be mollified or els thou art hardned too much against the face of thy brethren either thou doubtest and waverest at the promise of my loving Father and doest even call his faithfullnesse into question who hath alwayes bene faithfull unto me or els thou doest ayme too much at thy owne end asking what thou desirest according to thy old custome to consume it upon thy filthy lusts Say I say unto thy heart Oh hinc illae lachrymae be not beate off it here is the fountaine of my griefe why my Father is angry with me Let him not shift thee off with this or the like poore excuse The Lord doth not see it good for thee but rather tell him plainely thou knowest the Lord doth see it good for thee because hee hath both commanded thee to aske it of him and hath also promised to give it but thou Oh false heart with some or one of those before specified hast made me unworthy of the thing which I have asked unsufficient to apprehend the promise and to receive it To bring the heart to this examination is an excellent meanes to worke in him humiliation and certainely it will keepe him in the better awe This being thus performed in the first place it will also in the second place justify God in all his proceedings for when we aske a lawfull petition of God and goe without it If then wee acknowledge that the fault is our owne if we doe not receive it wee doe thereby submit our selves to Gods justice and acknowledge that whatsoever the Lord hath done unto us in depriving of us of such or such a blessing or continuing upon us such or such a punishment it is all but just there can be no aspertion of severity no imputation of iniquity layd upon his Majestie Yea by this we acknowledge nay our sinnes our weakenesses our infidelity our corruptions have taught us to yeeld that all is just and that there is not the least mixture of wrong in his proceedings In a word by this we acknowledge as David saith Psal 51.4 that he is just in speaking and cleare in judging Such then as maintayne