Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A58125
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The Christian monitor containing an earnest exhortation to an holy life, with some directions in order thereto : written in a plain and easie style, for all sorts of people.
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Rawlet, John, 1642-1686.
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1686
(1686)
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Wing R347A; ESTC R32275
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44,028
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60
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the streets run after them shouting and making sport with them And if you follow them to their own Homes what disturbance and mischief do they make there what swearing and cursing what brawling and scolding what quarrelling and fighting is there What outcries and lamentations do Wife and Children make who now perhaps are glad to get away for fear of their Lives as before they sat starving for want of that Money which these ill Husbands waste in the Ale-house A sin and shame it is to those that entertain them And after they have lived a while at this wild and wicked rate the next news commonly is that either for Debt or for Disorder they are laid up in Prison and sometimes by those very People in whose Houses they drunk away all they got And now are they forced to live upon Bread and Water and linger out a miserable hungry Life in a cold stinking Dungeon till either the Charity of Friends or Death it self release them thence And by the way is this such a pleasant Life that it 's worth being damn'd for to Hell-torments to all eternity of which afterward Thus also I might tell of the sad effects of Whoredom which is commonly follow'd with poverty and disgrace and many times with a filthy loathsom disease which makes Men rot above ground And thus angry proud malicious revengeful People are a continual torment to themselves and to all about them and seldom have any peace or quiet either with their Neighbours or in their own Families The like may be shewn of all other Vices which are still wont to bring their own punishment along with them to say nothing of what is or ought to be inflicted by the Magistrate Especially such wicked People as Thieves and Murderers Traitors and Rebels do seldom escape the hands of publick Justice But who will hurt Men if they be followers of that which is good Or what hurt does a man bring upon himself by living soberly and chastly by fearing God and honouring the King What mischief does a man get by minding his own Business and living quietly and peaceably amongst his Neighbours Nay how happily may we see even some of the meanest sort of People live that are diligent in their Callings and sober and temperate and careful to please God and keep a good Conscience in all their ways Very seldom it is that they are pinched with much Want or if they should fall into a low Condition yet all good People that know them are ready to pity and relieve them and will often trust them with Money or Goods till they are able to pay And every body is willing to employ an honest industrious Man so that he shall seldom want Work or Trading But idle riotous People that follow whoring and drinking gaming and cheating and stealing that neglect God's service and profane the Lord's day being often in the Ale-house when they should be at Church these are the People if you observe it that do commonly fall into the basest beggery and misery and Men do but little pity them because they brought it all upon themselves O how happy might all sorts of People be in a very great measure even at present if they would but become truly Religious and good It is their own sin and folly their lusts and passions that occasion most of those troubles and miseries which they meet with though I know they use to cry out of their hard fortune and to lay the blame upon others and sometimes to murmure against God himself But they consider not how they provoke God to anger daily by their hainous sins and therefore may justly feel his heavy judgments for the same beside all the mischief which naturally follows upon wickedness And this makes their Condition to be sad indeed that they are always liable to the wrath of God and may justly expect his vengeance to fall upon them and to strip them of all their Comforts and throw them into the sorest Calamities But on the contrary herein above all lies the good Man's security and comfort that he enjoys the blessing and favour of Almighty God and therefore is sure to want nothing that 's truly good for him So it 's promised Psal. 84. 11 12. Matt. 6. 33. They that first seek the Kingdom of God and the righteousness of it shall have all that is needful added to them So that a poor Man can take no surer course to provide for himself and Family than to become truly Religious though he may not have great things in the World yet he shall have Food convenient And then which is better than all he shall have God's blessing with what he enjoys and this will afford him more true content and comfort in that little he has than a wicked Man can find in all his great Treasures Godliness with contentment is the greatest gain Psal. 37. â—6 1 Tim. 6. 6. A poor Man that has only Jacob's Wish Food to eat and Raiment to put on if also he has Jacob's Piety and takes the Lord for his God and lives in his fear and service and enjoys the sense of his favour how blessed is the state of this Man How chearfully may he live at all times notwithstanding his Poverty What though his Dwelling be mean his Fare somewhat hard and course and his Clothing very plain yet whilst he loves God sincerely and worships him duly and devoutly he may even turn his poor Cottage into a Pallace yea a Temple and the blessed God will visit him with his presence will accept of his services and refresh him with the light of his countenance And upon this knowledge and enjoyment of God it is that the true comfort of a Man's life depends whatever his outward condition be It is this alone which gives inward peace and satisfaction to his mind and sweetens all his mercies and above all things bears up his heart under those afflictions he meets with For the best of Men must expect their share of outward troubles in this World such as sickness and pain loss of Friends and Estate with the like these are calamities common to all But here the good Man has clearly the advantage since he looks upon all that befalls him as coming from the hands of a most wise and gracious God who knows what is best for him and to whose Will he freely resigns himself and all his affairs saying with his blessed Master Not my will O God but thine be done Yea he receives afflictions as sent in kindness to correct him for his faults to exercise and encrease his Graces and so to prepare him for Glory And here 's the great benefit of Religion that it teaches a Man whither to go for Relief and Comfort in all his straits and difficulties even to this great and good God who is most able and ready to help his People in all times of trouble This we still read in Scripture was the course of holy Men and they found it