Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
conscience_n	fire_n	hell_n	worm_n	1,679	5	10.4739	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A13752	Thrēnoikos The house of mourning; furnished with directions for preparations to meditations of consolations at the houre of death. Delivered in XLVII. sermons, preached at the funeralls of divers faithfull servants of Christ. By Daniel Featly, Martin Day Richard Sibbs Thomas Taylor Doctors in Divinitie. And other reverend divines.	H. W., fl. 1640.; Featley, Daniel, 1582-1645.	1640 (1640)	STC 24049; ESTC S114382	805,020	906

some that hung themselves I pray give me leave a little to speake upon this Saint Austin tells me of five causes for which persons doe usually lay violent hands upon themselves The first is this Some doe it to avoide some shame or some dishonour or miserie or beggerie that shall befall them Thus did Achitophel when he saw that his counsell was defeated hee went home and hanged himselfe Thus have many done to avoide shame and dishonour Alas poore wretches While they seeke to escape temporall punishment they runne into eternall like our fishes in the Proverbe Out of the frying-pan into the fire into hell fire where the worme dieth not and where the fire never goeth out Secondly some have done it to avoide the terrours of a guiltie conscience Thus Iudas troubled in conscience after hee had betrayed Christ he went and hung himselfe Poore wretch He had more need he had lived that hee might have healed that sinne of his by repentance This is not a way to expiate thy sinne this is a way to increase it Iudas when he killed himselfe hee killed as wicked a man as was upon the earth and yet hee shall answer to God as well for that nocent bloud of his owne that he spilt as hee shall for the innocent bloud of the Son of God that he betrayed Thirdly wee find some that have done this to avoide some vilanie that they feared should bee offered them As for example Pelagia a noble Ladie that we reade of in Ecclesiasticall stories when shee was followed by some barbarous souldiours that would have abused her she speaking nothing but never a villaine of them all shall touch me threw her selfe over a bridge and drowned her selfe Some of the Fathers doe little lesse then commend her for this Saint Augustine condemnes her so should I. For why should she that had done no hurt doe hurt to her selfe why should she to escape the hands of the Nocent lay violent hands upon her selfe that was innocent Our chastitie of body is not lost when the chastitie of our mind remaineth inviolated Fourthly Some have done this to purchase to themselves a name of valour Rasis in the booke of the Machabees did thus And if there were no other thing in the world to shew that booke to be Apochriphall Scripture this is enough in that the Author of that booke commendeth Rasis for it It is not valour for to flie a danger it is valour to beare it If any example can bee alledged to this purpose that of Sampsons may But Saint Austin hee answereth The Spirit of God secretly commanded him to doe it And wee may verily beleeve it for if the Spirit of God had not commanded it yea and assisted him in it too hee had never done that he did in pulling downe the house upon himselfe and the Philistims Lastly some have done it or they might have done it because Blessed are the dead Some will die that they may be blessed Poore wretches They that deprive themselves of this life may not looke for a better when this is ended I will not judge particulars I leave them unto God But in the generall considering that life is Gods blessing it is hee that giveth it and it is hee that must take it away Considering that man is not lord of his owne spirit Considering that God hath set us here in our stations and we may not move out without leave from our Generall Considering that we are set here to serve God and we must serve him as long as he will and not as long as wee will Or specially considering that God hath forbidden us to kill others therefore forbidden us much more to kill our selves therefore surely except Gods mercie bee greater then I can give warrant for they that die thus die eternally And wee had need beseech God with all earnestnesse of spirit to keepe us from such a fearfull temptation as this for they that die thus die not in the Lord and therefore cannot bee blessed for my Text saith it of no other but of those Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. This is the first point I come to the Restriction Die in the Lord. It may be construed two wayes the preposition is Ambiguous for the Preposition many times in Scripture signifies In Domino or propter Dominum As Rom. 26. 1. I commend unto you Phebe our sister that you would receive her in Domino in the Lord that is for the Lords sake as becommeth Saints And in the twelfth verse of the same Chapter Salute the beloved Persis which laboured much in the Lord that is laboured much in Gods cause for the Lord. So againe Say to Archippus looke to the ministerie that thou hast received In Domino that is for the Lord for the Lords service for his worke I might give you many more instances There is one place most pregnant Eph. 4. 1. I Paul a prisoner in Domino so saith the vulgar Latine and so is the Greeke interpretation In the Lord. What meaneth Saint Paul A prisoner in the Lord what is that A prisoner for the Lord a prisoner for the Lords cause And thus you may take the word here in the Text Blessed are they that die In Domino that is such as die in causa Domini and thus Iudicious Beza to whose judgement I attribute much in translations hee readeth it so Blessed are the dead qui moriuntur causa Domini and then in his Annotations propter Dominum And if you take it thus then the Martyrs only are blessed That Martyrs are blessed the Church of God is so farre from making a question that they set it downe as a Rule Injuriam facit Martyri qui orat pro Martyre A man doth wrong to a Martyr that prayes for a Martyr their blessednesse is so sure for Hee that loseth his life for my sake and the Gospels shall find it saith Christ. If he loseth a temporall life he shall find an eternall If he lose a life accompanied with sorrow hee shall find another life that is with joy such joy as cannot bee conceived such joy as shall never be ended Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his Saints There are two things saith S. Bernard that makes the death of a Saint precious the one is a good life before the other is a good cause for which he dieth A good life will make it a precious death but a good cause will make it a more precious death But that is the most precious death that hath both a good life before it and a good cause comming next The Martyrs are blessed but they must be such Martyrs as suffer for the Lord be sure of that or else they are not blessed There be some that would be accounted Martyrs a great company of such we have had of late that have died for broaching of treason and some for sowing of sedition some for absolving subjects from

Thirdly he is condemned already in his owne conscience First in the counsell of God God hath made an eternall decree of Predestination whereby he hath elected some to salvation and predestinated them thereto and others to damnation In this Gods eternall decree the unbeleever is alreadie condemned nay before ever he came into the world as you have it in the example of Iacob and Esau Rom. 9. before ever they had done good or evill God hated the one and loved the other Secondly in the word of God hee is condemned Iohn 3. 18. Why because he hates the light and loves darknesse Thirdly in his owne conscience he is condemned for the continuall horrour thereof gives him no rest day nor night there is a worme continually gnawing there and a sting tormenting him but the full execution thereof is to be in the day of wrath when he shall be set at the left hand of Christ and heare the sentence Goe yee cursed into eternall fire prepared for the divell and his angells O what a terrible day will this be to all the wicked workers of iniquitie for Christ Jesus the Judge shall come then to give them their reward This shall be a blacke a sad a wofull dismall day to them they shall not be able to looke on the Judge he shall bee so terrible to them You see the terriblenesse of the Judge set downe by Saint Iohn Revel 20. 10 11. where it is said hee saw a great white throne and one sitting thereon from whose face fled heaven and earth and their place was no more found Heaven and earth are great and mightie creatures insensible creatures that have not sinned they flie and tremble and hide themselves at the comming of the great Judge and shall man silly sinfull man thinke to stand before the Judge without trembling Indeed if a man could present himselfe spotlesse without blame he needed not to feare but a las it is farre otherwise there is none that doth good and sinneth not saith Solomon The most righteous before men are stained and poluted in the sight of God and may crie with the Leper Uncleane uncleane what is man that hee should be pure or the sonne of man that hee should bee just with God The Angels of heaven are impure in his sight how much more filthy man that drinketh iniquitie as water Job 15. So in Psal. 14. 2. When God lookes downe from heaven upon the sonnes of men to see if there were any that would understand and seeke after God Will he find any that frames themselves according to the rule of perfection that hee requires surely no but this he findes they are all corrupt and abominable in their doings there is none that doth good no not one so sinfull is man in his whole race sinfull in his conception he is conceived in sinne before ever hee sees light in this world when hee is covered with the rich hangings of natures wardrobe in his mothers womb then man tumbles in sinne as the word in the originall signifieth Hee is sinfull in his birth in his life in his thoughts his words and actions and shall he that is thus spotted and stained and polluted stand before the pure Judge of heaven and earth without trembling surely no The mightie the Kings of the earth the Captaines high and low of what condition soever as many as have not made their garments white in the bloud of the slaughtered Lambe Christ they shall tremble and flie to hide themselves and crie to the mountaines to cover them before the face of this glorious Judge Wee come now to the last thing and that is the end of Christs comming to Judgement The end of Christs comming you know is to give a reward And this reward shall be both to the wicked and to the godly for hee shall give the reward according to every mans worke First I will speake of the reward of the wicked And after conclude with the reward of the godly The reward of the wicked shall be endlesse woe and perpetuall miserie in hell There was never any man that descended into that fierie lake and returned thence to tell us what torments are provided for the wicked in Hell but yet as by one drop of the Sea water you may conceive of the saltnesse of the rest and as a man may ghesse at the stature of a Giant by the length of his foot even so wee may have some conceit of those endlesse and easelesse and remedilesse torments prepared for the wicked in hell by a taste of the miseries we have in this life Great may the griefe of a mans heart be even in this life as great as mortalitie is able to beare Can we read of the mourning of Ioseph of Hannah of Iob of Ieremie of Ierusalem and not bee moved our hearts are hard Can we reade of the hideous torments invented by Tyrants Caldrons of boyling oyle roasting upon spits tumbling downe Mountaines in barrels of nayles rending of joynts with horses can we reade of these mercilesse torments and not be moved our hearts are harder then a milstone Alas beloved these are nothing but shadowes but counterfeit to those torments that are prepared for the wicked in hell For though the bowels of hell labour to emptie the bowels of judgement yet shee hath an immeasurable portion for her children now living nay for those that are unborne a patrimonie of blacknesse of brimstone of the wrath of God of wailing and gnashing of teeth Certainly death shall take them away but they shall never die they shall consume for ever and yet shall not be consumed they shall be in fire unquenchable and yet see no light You may reade of the wine of giddinesse Psal. 60. 3. of a strange kind of Worme Isay ult of fire and brimstone Ezek. 38. 22. of the Wine-presse of Gods wrath Revel 14. 10. All these and if worse then these can be are prepared as so many torments for the wicked workers of iniquitie Their cuppe is the deadliest that ever was drunke even of Gods wrath wherewith they shall bee filled for ever their worme is that that continually gnawes upon the conscience they shall bee tormented in fire and brimstone before the Lambe and his Angels Not such as that of Sodome and Gomorrah for then there were hope that they might be converted at the last into heapes of Ashes or pooles of Pitch but such fire and brimstone that as a bottomlesse Mine gives them rest neither night nor day the smoake of it ascending for ever and is appointed for a time and times till time shall be no more Their torment in such a measure as neither eye hath seene nor eare heard nor heart of man hath conceived But beloved all this is but generall if the time would suffer we could shew the torments of the damned in particular as First the eternitie of those torments in that they shall never end and I verily perswade my selfe that this