Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
conscience_n	good_a	witness_n	witness_v	2,329	5	9.9757	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A58147	Work & reward, or, The testimonial of a believer for his entrance into glory, examined and approved in a sermon at the interment of the vertuous lady, Margaret St. John, wife to ... Sir Alexander St. John, Septem. the 3. 1656 / by Francis Raworth ...	Raworth, Francis, d. 1665.	1656 (1656)	Wing R374; ESTC R21375	26,633	69

not suffer him to go in with him So in a sense Faith guards us to Heaven Gates and when it hath done its office there it leaves us Faith follows a Christian as the shadow doth the Sun from one point of the Compass or Dyal to another until it comes to the Miridian and there it leaves it but love is a Royal Grace an Heavenly Peer with State and Majesty it enters into Glory and dwells with the King of Glory himself to all Eternity As Dr. Preston said when a dying I shall change my place but not my company his Graces followed him Thirdly Their Works follow them in respect of the comfort of them as the wicked onely leave their duties behinde them and carry their sins with them so the godly leave their sins behinde them and carry their graces with them they put off their garments when they go to bed And here 1. After death a childe of God is comforted with the success of his works How comfortable at the last day will it be for a Master of a Family to present his servants at the Tribunal Bar before the Lord and to say Lord Here am I and my servants with me that not onely wear my Livery but also obeyed thy commands For the Ministers of the Gospel that have been faithful to present their flocks before the great Bishop and Shepheard of souls and to say Here are the purchase of thy blood the travail of our souls the fruit of our labors and tears As the Ancient sweetly brings in the Apostles like so many File-leaders severally bringing up their Converts to the Judgement-Seat Peter attended with the converted Jews John leading up the Asiatiques Thomas the Indians and Paul the Gentiles Et nos hic Pastores vocati sumus ibi greges non ducemus And it is the perswasion of many great Divines That the spiritual Fathers in Christ shall know their children in Christ at that day Their success will advantage their comfort and therefore it is part of our duty to labor for success though it must be acknowledged that God rewards us not according to the success of our labors properly but according to our labors for success Let none be discouraged that their faithful works have not their success with men for as the good Physician always heals not so the good Preacher always converts not The success of our labors is his work not ours and God rewards us not according to his own work simply and abstractly taken by the leave of that yet true and famous affirmation God crowns his own works in us but according to our works He shall give to every man according to his works 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we had better have one work writ in Heaven then a thousand on Earth and though men may forget labors of love on earth yet the comfort is they shal be reminded rewarded by Christ in heaven those that convert souls and run like stars on Earth shall at last be Crowned and shine like stars in Heaven Dan. 12.3 4. 2. After death a childe of God shall be comforted with the Testimony of his Conscience And thus 1. His Integrity shall follow or accompany him Miserable is he whose conscience condemns him though all the world acquit him but thrice happy is he whose conscience acquits him though all the world accuse him A man may have hypocrisie in him and yet be no Hypocrite he may slumber and sleep with the foolish Virgins yet be no foolish Virgin while we are on this side our Fathers house we cannot but trip and stumble though we keep the way while we are on this side Paradice we cannot behold a Pomgranate that hath no rotten grain in it This may support that if we bring our Graces to the Touch-stone the Lord himself will never bring them to the Balance the charge of Hypocrisie is familiar and easie the proof is laborious and hard We are not made Lord Judges of mens Consciences and therefore notwithstanding private suspitions we must forbear and refer the censure of the full and final estate of man to God It s the work of God to discover Hypocrites not of man while a man goes about to discover an Hypocrite let him beware lest in seeking to finde out one he discover two the searched and the searcher Quam immensa est laetitia de recordatione transacti operis Possibly it may be said concerning many Christians who never studied to be conformable to the Critical Religion of the World as it was said of Father Paul the Venetian because men knew not how to convince him either in his Profession or Life they had onely this common plea against him That he was an Hypocrite But what a testimony will Samuel bring with him at that day to say in the audience of Men and Angels Whose Ox have I stoln For blessed Paul to manifest at that day This is the testimony of my conscience that in godly simplicity I have behaved my self in the world My Beloved get a good conscience for that is a thousand witnesses and a thousand witnesses will not at that day be so good as a good conscience How amiable will the face of true Grace be then How abominable will the vizor and counterfeit be 2. His Charity and Love shall witness for him Many have no greater sensible evidence of their loving Christ then by the love they bear to his servants that wear his Livery to his Children that bear his Image But then the scruples of the upright shall be dissolved resolved and they shall not need so to puzle their brains to finde the love of the Brethren in their hearts How refreshing will it be then for a Believer to have occasion to say by way of Praise and Testimony the Lord gave me the loaf and I grudged not to give others the crums God made my cup full and I made it to run over for the relief of others It will I am sure it will be more comfortable for a man to say I have been good and I have done good in the World then to say I had all the goods of the World Good works are a Treasure and will follow you good and cordial Prayers are a Treasure and they will go before you and Faith and Hope are a Treasure and they will go with you It is strange to consider how many bad words men have for good works as if to be charitable were to be Popishly affected but if charity be Antichristianism Christ is the Pope and Rome is at Jerusalem Rev. 14.13 Acts 7.59 Luke 23.43 Make to your selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations Luke 16.9 Not by way of merit but by way of concomitancy every acting of every Grace will stand us in stead a charitable act as well as a repenting act Quicquid pauperibus spargimus nobis colligimus I shall not impose on your belief But it is reported that

Evagrius in Cedremus bequeathed 300 l. in his will to the poor but took a Bond of Synesius the Bishop for the payment of it in the other life the next night after his departure appeared to him in his shape delivered in the Bond cancell'd and fully discharged saying Take your Bond again I am satisfied Thirdly His perseverance will follow him It were better for a man never to set his hand to the plow then to look and to go backward better never to have begun in profession then to end in Apostacy Perseverance is the Crown of Grace because it is the Crowning Grace Perseverance is the Crown of Grace and Heaven is the Crown of Perseverance Praise the Marriner when he is arrived at his Harbor commend the Souldiers valour when he hath got the day and won the field Hold on and hold out Faith and Prayer said the Martyr Hold fast that which thou hast that no man take thy Crown saith the Lord Revel 3.11 How sweet will it be for a Believer to carry the testimony of his perseverance in his conscience to the last Assizes to have ground to say It 's true Lord I have had many infirmities many failings yet my heart was upright my heart did not lay hypocrisie at my door I confess I often stumbled I had almost faln many a time have I offended against thy glory before the World but oftner have I grieved thy gracious spirit in private yet through thy grace I have risen I have fought the good fight I have run my race and though I have many ways forsaken thee yet thou didst not forsake and take thy farewel of me thou didst pardon my sins and heal my soars We cannot but be shot at by Satan while we are besieged we get many a fall and bruise by the world lust scarce a Jacob that wrestleth with God but goeth limping yet where sin is a Tyrant not a King an enemy at our backs not a friend in our bosoms it wil not be charged on us so as to condemn so as to damn us What a comfortable sight is it to see a Christian to contend against flesh blood in this world to ruine with Christ rather then to reign with Caesar to march out of the Battle though wounded and maimed yet with his colours flying to the Grave If they be blessed that die in how blessed are they that moreover die for the Lord Mori pro Domino Martyrum est in Domino confessorum Bern. Beatus est Petrus qui cruciatur nec minus beatus est Johannes qui in Lecto moritur Aret. in Loc. Fourthly His works follow him in respect of Testimonies ad extra and so his works shall finde a probation 1. From the good Angels As they are Gods Messengers to us so they are our witnesses to God the tears of repenting sinners are the wine of Angels they rejoyce in therefore they must needs observe the conversion of sinners Many Actions done out of the view of men are yet within the cognizance of Angels The good Angels shall give in their testimony against the wicked and for the righteous such an one Lord was a Blasphemer a Drunkard we can witness to it we have heard him swear we have seen him drunk but such and such were attenders upon Gospel Ordinances were given to Prayer and Meditation to Repentance and good works and as far as we can judge were not onely Professors of sincerity but sincere Professors were not onely called Saints Saints by calling but Saints indeed by Dedication and Infusion not onely called Christians but Christians as they were called Zech. 1.10 2. His works shall finde a probation from the very Divels As at the great day in some things the godly shall acquit the Divels for the Divels are not always guilty when we are filthy we often paint the Divels blacker then they are to make our selves whiter then we are and give them their due so in some things the Divels as very Divels as now they are shall acquit the godly God q. d. will then say to Satan as one of old Satan hast thou considered my servants Job David and Peter and Satan that accused them while living shall then as it were justifie them Wisdom is too often condemned by her children here but Wisdom shall be justified by her enemies hereafter Providence will extort this confession from Divels true Lord they were great sinners but we cannot deny the truth of their repentance and we did often tempt them when yet they were not overcome Thus Religion shall be cleared not onely by Divelish men but by Divels The Divels will then testifie that wherein Gods servants failed it was much because of their snares that such and such of Gods children had lived more comfortably but that they tempted them to dispair had lived more righteously but that they tempted them to scandal had done more work for God in his vineyard but that they disquieted and hindred them Jesus I know and Paul I know but who are you said the evil Spirit in the Acts. Thirdly He hath a testimony of his good works from good men Religion is now made a party by too too many and men became of an opinion not to serve God but to get Votes for their reputation O what a refuge is it for the Hypocrite to flie to the applause and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Gods people to cry up others for their Heavenly-mindedness that the Heavenly-minded indeed might not cry out against them for worldly-mindedness not but that the good opinion of good men is considerable but in se and separated from goodness of practise in our selves it s but the varnish of Hypocrisie As the evil Opinion of an evil man maketh not a good man evil so the good Opinion of a good man maketh not an evil man good yet as God is the witness of our heart so good men are the witnesses of our lives The Rabbies have a fine Proverb That he that doth a good work bonum opus gets to himself against the last day Advocatum an Advocate and so many good works so many Advocates but Christ is our Advocate but he that continues so many evil works as he doth so many Divels or so many Accusers he procures against himself in Judgement Good men will then testifie one for another when Justice shall enquire what such and such were not that God needs mans testimony but to speak to conscience and according to the substance of the process at that day the righteous shall answer Lord since we are called to be witnesses we must needs say That while such were a blaspheming thy name a scoffing at thy people we knew them to be Blasphemers and Scoffers these and these of thy people were a praying a hearing of thy Oracles a mourning for sin they and we did comfortably and often serve the Lord together Fourthly They shall have a probation from evil men Their accusation is not so considerable as their