a conscience washed in the blood of Christ that is the first step of a good conscience Heb. 9. 14. I say the first step is to be washed in the blood of Christ that is to have the guilt of sin clean done away in him As in Rev. 1. 5. He is the faithful witness that hath offered up to God a Sacrifice which hath fully satisfied him as Isa 53. 11. This Chapter is full of this Discourse Again A good conscience being so washed will endeavour to avoid all offences both to God and man as you see in Acts 24. 16. This washing and purging doth not only make clean but also keeps it clean It doth not only justifie the soul but also it sanctifies Heb. 9. 14. 2. A good conscience is a quick-sighted conscience and that two wayes In seeing what is Good Bad. 1. He sees the good and rejoyceth as Paul in 2. Cor. 1. 12. Our rejoycing saith the Apostle is in the testimony of a good conscience that with godly sincerity we have walked Here the conscience sees the good 2. A good Conscience sees the evil and strives against it As you see the same Apostle Rom. 7. 23 24. But I see saith Paul another law in my members O wretched man that I am here is a quick-sighted Conscience he sees the old man striving sin endeavouring to make inroads upon the poor soul very often and therefore it is happy for any soul that hath a sight of it By this you see that a good Conscience is quick sighted And yet further such a Conscience will not deceive thee he will not lie quiet when thou doest evil but will tug with thee for repentance and therefore whoever thou art that hast a dead Conscience and that liest quiet seest no evil in thy corrupt nature thou mayst have cause to fear that the guilt is not washed away but that thou art still in the state of nature Again a good Conscience fears to sin nay he trembles at it and the reason is because it is against his God because God hates it therefore he hates it See an example of this in Gen. 39. 9. How shall I do it sayes Joseph seeing the sin is against my God I dare not do it Let this teach all that love God to answer Sathan and all their tempters thus I will not yield to any thing that is against my God Again a good Conscience fears to wound it self by leaving undâ—ne those duties which God requâ—reth of him and therefore his work is to keep it self pure and unspotted as Paul saith in 2 Tim. 1. 3. and his work is to find out and do the will of God Such a Conscience is alwayes fearfull that he doth too little for God and that his heart is never right enough in what he doth These are the marks to know a good Conscience there are many more marks to know a good Conscience by but for the present these are all that I shall name this being only by the way to make the other more clear The next thing is the worth or value of a good Conscience Although I cannot tell or declare the just value yet I shall shew some of the worth or value of a good Conscience by which you shall see how good it is to have such a Conscience and to do it I shall lay down these four grounds which will make it appear why it is at such a rate 1. A good Conscience is worth much because it tels thee thou art at peace with God thy Conscience testifies to thee that thou art so as Paul saith 2 Cor. 1. 12. 2. A good Conscience speaks peace to thee and excuseth thee as Paul saith Ro. 2. 15. When Sathan and all thy accusers flie in thy face thy Conscience tels thee Christ hath paid and satisfied the just Law of God to the full and that thou art acquitted fully This is of much worth to thee and thou canst not set worth enough on it 3. The comfort of thy life is much in this that thou hast not a feared Conscience neither a dead Conscience neither a Conscience subjected to dead works but that thy Conscience is awake and feels and is sensible of evil and also of good and that it tels thee daily without flattery how the case stands with thee I say such a Conscience is much to be valued that deals plainly and flies in thy face when thou sinnest and that will never leave thee till thou see and repent of it and also when thou doest that which is good that Conscience will also tell thee thou doest thy duty and thou mayst expect God and his Spirit with thee in doing his will Search and see now whether this be not worth much 4. The worth and value of a good Conscience is very high at the time of death When death comes to take thy life what is a good Conscience worth then O then 't is worth much What would a man whose Conscience condemns him give then for this good Conscience even ten thousand worlds if he had them I tell thee that then it will bring thee into the presence of God with joy whereas on the contrary it will be as that saying of our Lord Mar. 9 46. a worm which will not die Is a good Conscience of such worth O then strive to keep a good Conscience let thy exercise be much in it as the Apostle Paul saith Act. 24. 16. both towards God and man first to God see thou do those duties he requires of thee and see thou wound not thy Conscience by thy neglect hearken what thy Conscience saith and quench not those whisperings when it tels thee thou must do this duty and forbear that evil I say whatever thou doest keep it clear between God and thy soul Again keep a good Conscience towards God and man and to do it observe these things 1. That thou avoid carnal company and carnal speaking for that will much offend thy Conscience because thou shouldst make the Saints thy companions and thy Experiences of God thy discourse 2. Be often in private speaking to thy Father for he longs to hear from thee and thy Conscience will soon tell thee that thou hast found him meeting thee God is a loving Father and he delights to have his Children often speaking to him and keeps a book of Remembrance as in Mal. 3. 16 17. God will make up such among his Jewels and as a father spareth his son that serveth him so will God spare such a soul 3. Have a care what thou doest in thy dealings among men keep a good Conscience here thou shalt find many idle words not fit to come out of thy mouth and many times thy Conscience tels thee that it is evil avoid it now and set a watch before thy heart and lips that thou mayst keep a clear Conscience And be sure that thou defraud no man but deal justly or else thou wilt hurt thy conscience seek truth as the Apostle Paul saith
Gospel-Mysterie OR The great Vnion that is betwixt CHRIST and the SAINTS From Cant. 2. 16. WITH A true Way to discern a Godly man from a Carnal or Vngodly man AND The way how the Saints return after Back-sliding Also The Worth of a good Conscience By Robert Dornford Revel 3. 20. Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man will open I will come in and sup with him LONDON Printed by R. W. for Francis Tyton and are to be sold at the three Daggers in Fleet street neer the Inner-Temple-Gate 1652. Christian Reader I Have made bold to present thee with a few lines in which it is like thou mayest find much weakness I shall humbly intreat thee to bear with that and to lay aside all prejudice that may arise in thy heart and do desire thee to read it over on this consideration That God makes use of weak Instruments for many good ends And this I will assure thee that I do not tell thee of that which I partake not of but of that which I have both heard and learned seen and felt and do offer it to thee not as my own fancy but thou seest it no more then the Word of God witnesseth and therefore whether I please man or no it matters not much I know many Pretenders to be Saints yet deny the Power of Godliness The Lord turn all the hearts of his People away from them In a few words my desire is that thou and I may not have a name to live yet be dead that we may not own the titles of Saints and yet live as carnal as others which many do at this day But it is no more then we may expect in regard the Lord CHRIST and the Apostles have foretold of Wandring Stars and Clouds without water carried about with wind I tell thee whosoever thou art either Spiritual or Temporal here is something for thee to do And therefore weigh that which thou readest in the ballance of Truth and the Lord make both thee and me not only hearers of his will but doers also Which is the earnest desire of Thy Christian Friend R. D. A great Neerness Betwixt CHRIST and the SAINTS THe words of Scripture on which I shall discourse is in the 2. Chap. of Canticles My Beloved is mine and I am his In this and also in the whole Treatise we have the Expostulations of Love betwixt Christ and the Saints I shall not stand upon the variety of it but shall keep to the words in which we have chiefly these four parts 1. We have the Spouses assurance of Christ My Beloved is mine 2. We have her great esteem of Christ He is her Beloved or He is greatly beloved of her 3. We have her assent to Christ I am his 4. We have the Union betwixt them I shall endeavour to open these Heads in order according as they lie And from the first thing I take notice of the Observation will be this That every Saint of God hath a full assurance of the love of Christ My Beloved is mine There is no being a Saint untill thou canst say Christ is my Christ untill Christ be thine and in thee thou art but a Reprobate 2 Cor. 13. 5. But the Spouse here hath a full assurance that Christ her beloved is hers the Spirit of God doth witness this unto her as it appears by that Scripture in Rom. 8. 15 16 17. where the Apostle saith that the Spirit of God doth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God This in it self were enough to prove the truth of what hath been said but take a place or two more for confirmation 1 Joh. 3. 1 2. The Saints they have a full assurance that they are the sons of God saith John And if thou art a son of God then thou canst not fail of the love of Christ See Rom. 8. 9. If any man hath the Spirit of God then Christ is his if he hath not Christ is none of his It is this assurance of the love of Christ that makes the Saints so confident it was that which made them lay down all lives and all for him I know that my Redeemer liveth saith Job c 19. v. 25 26. From the second thing I take notice of the Observation will be this Obs 2. That Christ is deerly beloved and highly prized by every believing Soul I am now upon the cleerest truth and the easiest proved that is and therefore shall not stand long on it Only by the way take notice That it is one thing to love Christ after this manner and another thing to tell of loving him Many speak high words and fine smooth speeches but they love not Christ so as to part with all for him But Christ is so deerly beloved to the Saints that are Saints indeed that all things are as nothing when it comes to competition with Christ To you that believe saith the Apostle Peter Christ is precious 1 Pet. 2. 7. There is nothing so dear to a poor Saint as his dear Christ who shed his blood for him The Apostle Paul how doth he declare his dear affection to Christ Phil 3. 7 8 9. I saith he account all lost for Christ nay more then lost I account all dung that I may win Christ and be found in him You may take notice a little how the Spouse by which is meant the Saints doth express her love to Christ Cant. 1. 7. O thou whom my soul loveth and so almost all the Canticles is filled with the like expressions by which you may easily see that it is a dear love the Saints have to Christ Christ is so highly prized you see by Paul that all things are by him accounted dung nothing is so lovely in all the world as the Lord Christ Thirdly from the Spouses assent to Christ we may draw this Observation Obs 3. That all the Saints do give themselves freely to Jesus Christ Or That all the Saints are given to Christ Thev are given to him by a twofold gift First God gives them to him Joh. 6. 37. All that the Father giveth me saith Christ shall come to me and Joh 10. 29. My Father which gave them me is greater then all and therefore no man is able to pluck them out of my hands Secondly the Saints give up themselves to Christ I am his saith the Spouse to do what please him with me and now I am to follow him whithersoever he goeth as it is in Mat. 16. 24. He that hath given himself to Christ as the Spouse as all the Saints do he is to bear his Crosse although in a field of blood The Saints they give themselves to Christ to be at his dispose to obey what he commands as appears plainly in Joh 10 27. My sheep hear my voice saith Christ I know them and they follow me But I shall not stand here in regard I know that all that are Gods must witness to this That the Saints do give
of the Acts from ver 19. to the end The Manner of a Godly Mans Return after some Back-sliding from the ways of GOD. FIrst Experience tells me the heart is deceitful the Old man being not wholly crucified strives to insnare our poor souls and many times gets advantage and brings us to a lost Condition I am sure in these days many a poor soul hath even run himself off from holy duties and from the society of the Saints and so hath lain and not seen his evil nay grew dead as it were and hardened in it Many such are returned already and all the rest that are God's will follow But before I go any further I shall shew some of the Reasons or Causes that have made this disorder which otherwise t is like might not have been The first cause was the terrible out-cries of some Ministers against all that separated from their National Worship calling them Hereticks Blasphemers and such like calling upon the Parliament and Magistrate to punish and destroy them with these ensuing punishments 1. With threatnings and scourgings 2. With imprisonments 3. With banishments 4. With death This was common in their Pulpits for which I am confident God will reckon with them because this was the first offence and the cause of much bitterness And truly most of the reason that moved them was fear that now they should not keep the people in blindness and that their Lord-like power would not stand over the Consciences of men And the Reason why I thus conclude is this because they only are the men that uphold Formality how loth are they to part with their old Reliques nay we see that many of the Grand fathers among them still wear their old weed the rags of Prelacy will hardly come down Nay that which is far worse their patching up a body for Christ of their carnal hearers and calling them his Church and giving them the Ordinances of Christ which are left only for the Saints the proof of which is so plain that none can deny and now it should do well if you would look and see if your Members are such as Christ saith his be John 15. And see then what fruit they bear are not most of them meer sots in any thing of God hast thou found a change in them doth not thy conscience tell thee that not one of them is truly godly what then hast thou to do to give the childrens bread unto them And now one thing more I have observed from thee thou art overjoyed to see any one that is not in thy Form fall into sin thou never art troubled that God is dishonoured by it neither dost thou take notice of the daily wickedness committed by those of thy own form but this thou sayest This was one of the fellows under new light and so endeavourest to cast dirt on all And by such like courses have thy ways provoked many to slight thee and that justly And envy and evil hath been by thee procured even to the hurt of the Saints VVo be to him by whom offences come 2. Another Reason why many have backslidden is because of many rotten hearts among themselves which always waited to finde holes open that under some pretence they might run forth to sin and by this means many were befooled with them 3. Another was the rigidness of them under forms so that there was no Communion with them unless a man agreed in every part of their judgement which many could not do and therefore were fain to withdraw from them and so to abide alone which hath caused much evil But to return to the matter in hand T is truth many have back-slidden the Question will be from what they did back slâ—de Answ It was from the ways of God and in particular these From the Communion of Saints From holy Duties As Prayer and Thanksgigiving and such like These have been neglected and reading and meditating on the Word of God or that there hath been a yielding to some sin or that there hath not been that watchfulness over the heart and lips as there ought These are the things both omitted and committed Now a godly man lies not here but he returns and the manner how he doth return here followeth First God brings him to see the evil of it as in Jeremy 31. 19. And then the heart is ashamed and repents for what hath past and it works in him a Revenge against sin and a searching of the heart there shall no sin now lie in quiet He longs now for the wayes of God and he sees what t is to want Communion with the Saints and now he longs for it again and loves them dearly where he sees fruitfulness in grace Again his heart is much for holy duties he will keep close to God by prayer his soul longs for Communion and fellowship with his God as David saith His soul panteth for God and longeth to enjoy more of him he sees his own nothingness and weakness and he flies wholly to the Lord Christ he dares not trust himself any more His delight is in the Law of his God as David saith And this is the manner how a backslider returns to God and his ways I shall only add a word or two more and that shall be of Advice 1. To those that are not yet returned but are still in a back-sliding condition Come off now and lie not in this sad luke-warm condition and minde what Christ saith in Rev. 3. v. 15 16 17. Think it no small matter to be lukewarm in the wayes of God and godliness lest thou be spued out of his mouth 2. To those that have seen the evil of it Let this also advise thee that thou keep close now to thy God and the ways of Godliness thou seest that t is not in vain to serve thy God set about it then with a perfect heart and keep a narrow watch that thou be no more ensnared Let it appear of a truth that the power of God and godliness is in thee A SHORT TREATISE Wherein is contained 1. The worth of a good Conscience 2. The Happiness of a holy Conversation 3. The Blessed and Comfortable Estate of those that have a true fellowship with God Christ and the Saints 4. What t is to bear the Cross of Christ 5. The Reward in holding out to the end 6. An Invitation of all sorts of sinners to the offer of Grace 7. The wofull Condition of all that accept not of it A wise man will hear and will increase learning Pro. 1. 5. You therefore that are wise and endued with knowledge shew it in a holy conversation Jam. 3. 13. THe first thing we are to speak of is a good Conscience and the great Worth of it Because most men and women keep much ado about it and yet deceive themselves we shall proceed 1. To shew what a good Conscience is 2. To prove the worth of it 1. What is a good Conscience A good conscience is
unto all that hold out to the end 2 Tim. 4. 8. 6. We cannot end our discourse but that we must speak a word or two to those that are yet in a state of nature and endeavour to lay before them the bread of Life and offer to them that which is so lovely and precious and that thou mayest prize it and accept of it I shall tell thee 1. In what condition thou art 2. VVhat will help thee out of it 3. How happy thou wilt be if thou accept of it For the first Thy condition is sad and therefore hearken hither thou art without God in the world and so is every one that is in a state of nature You have it in Scripture at large we shall search it out Eph. 2. 12. Here thou art without Christ and without God thou art a stranger to the ways of God Consider what will become of thee Again you shall finde in 2 Cor. 13. 5. that you are Reprobates It may be you may think it strange But here you see t is true thou art but a Reprobate though thou art civilized and wouldst make shew of Religion yet it is most certain except Christ be in thee and therefore mark now some few things that I shall tell thee Every man and woman is by the fall of Adam under the wrath of God and so thou wast assoon as thou wast born liable to the curse Rom. 6. 23. and thou art polluted in sin Also by thy actual transgressions thou art cursed As thou art in thy self thou canst not keep the holy Law oâ— God and that also is a curse to thee Gal. 3. 10. Now take notice of thy self art thou yet in that state Art thou yet in thy sins canst thou tell of nothing dost thou look for any thing from the Law to do thee good hast thou not yet seen the worth of Christ then now hearken for thou art in a sad Condition all thy sins are lading thy poor soul down to hell and I tell thee except thou take this Advice in the following Remedy thou art undone for ever 2. Thou must take this Remedy come to the Lord Christ and get thy sins washed away in his blood that thou mayst become clean and white and that thou mayst have thy guilt done away in him He came from the bosom of God to the end that he might save sinners 1 Tim. 1. 15. Come unto him now that thou mayst be one of them And that thou mayst not be deceived here I will tell thee how thou must come to him and how thou must accept of him thou must forsake all thy sins and become a new man forsake all thy old lusts as the Apostle Paul saith in 2 Cor. 5. 17. Forsake all thy old Companions with whom thou hast formerly delighted to commit sin and thou must give up thy self to Christ and enquire what his will is and begin to do his will thou must now love Christ and let thy soul long for him take up his yoke and learn of him lay down all thy own righteousness at his feet and let him be thy righteousness make choice of the Saints to be thy Companions love them and be often with them Nothing but this will help thee therefore make no delay come to the Lord Christ he hath promised that those which come to him he will in no wise cast off Joh. 6. 37. Christ stands at the door and knocks wilt not thou open to him and let him in Rev. 3. 20. Entertain him whilst it is called to day lest thou die in thy sins Turn unto God that thou mayst receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them that are sanctified Act. 26. 18. That when the time of refreshing shall come and the Lord shall send Jesus Christ which now is offered to thee thou mayst have the witness of a good conscience washed in his blood and mayst with rejoycing be ready to meet the Lord and get in with him into the Marriage-Chamber as thou seest the Saints shall Matth. 25. 10. 3. If thou accept of this how happy art thou thou art happy indeed if thou hast Christ then thou art a Son of God Joh. 1. 12. Thou shalt be made like him 1 Joh. 3. 2. and thou art an heir of heaven Gal. 4. 7. and thou art a Member with the Saints of the body of Christ Eph. 5. 30. Consider this now and thou shalt finde more comfort then I can tell thee of In the eight place I shall only speak a word or two of the sad condition all they will be in that accept not of this offer of grace that will not hearken to the voice of Christ poor soul thou wilt be in a sad condition indeed for that Christ whom thou slightest will come in flaming fire to render vengeance on thee 2 Thes 1. 8. Then shalt thou cry to the Mountains to fall on thee to hide thee from the wrath of the Lamb then shalt thou hear that sad sentence go ye cursed into everlasting perdition Matth. 25. 41. Read this Chapter and see thy condition and flatter not thy self for this will assuredly fall on thee I shall leave thee with the saying of Christ Matth. 24. 35 36 37 38 39. FINIS