reconciled to God an estate neither befalling the prowde Pharisee swolne and pufft vp with a false conception tympany a deceiuable confidence and ouer-weening of his owne righteousnes nor the dull and stony sinner who drunk with sinnes sweetnes is made insensible and remains seemingly vndisquieted In summe t' is nothing else but that inward integritie of the heart whereof S. Paule speaking sayes The ende and complement of the Law is Charitie in a pure heart with faith vnfained 1. Tim. 1.5 And presently after Vers 19. differencing it from a meer vnderstanding he saith Some haue made a shipwracke of Faith by forsaking a good Conscience Wherein saith Caluin hee shewes it to be a liuely ardor of seruing God with the entire affection of his soule and a sincere endeuour to liue godly and honestly among men respecting properly and precisely God as the maine ende and obiect therof but lesse principally men because the effects and fruits of it extend euen to them also This thus opened brings vs I hope some light to finde and see what an euill Conscience is which is whatsoeuer the former is not A remembrance of an ill-led-life ioyned with feare of punishment or a grieuous and racking motion of the soule mixt with knowledge and sight of her owne wickednes and by consequence with a foresight of her owne miserie But in handling the next part of the Text we shall obtaine a manifolde discouerie of them both and be made to descry aswell the comfortable nature of the one as the poore and wretched condition of the other Come wee then to that which I called the maine intendment of Solomon or the generall Doctrine hence obserueable The first part whereof is that there is no peace to the wicked as God speakes by Esay No ioy no comfort in an ill soule And the second That the good man is the onely merrie man aliue For so much is veiled and couered here vnder these words A continuall Feast 3 For the first as Saint Paul speakes of the good man that he is afflicted yet alwayes merrie So Solomon of the wicked iust contrary euen in laughter the heart is sorrowfull Pro. 14.13 The world then it seemes is cousened and gulled with showes and shadowes and outward semblances thinking such a man sicke that is in perfect health esteeming an other in great iollity of an able lusty body when t' is but a languishing carkasse For the full worldling sets out and paints and struts like a huge Colossus of gold peraduenture or Iuory without but stuft with clay and stones within all their happinesse affoording no more comfort then for a theefe to be hanged on a painted Gallowes Therefore Seneca calls it Foelicitatem bracteatam capsulam totam gilded felicity all couer and shell and barke straw without graine or gilded sheathes with leaden weapons nor yet so merely T' is not a froath or winde or emptinesse but a burning a corrosion a sting a poyson a secret malignity withall For so Solomon implyes where speaking of all outward things hee sayeth They are not onely vanity but vexation of the spirite So that worldlings may complaine of all earthly matters as Agarnemnon doth of honour in the Tragedy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 T 's sweet in show and semblance a farre off but it sads a man at heart when it comes The maine reason whereof is that of Senecaes because all folly and vanity laborat fastidió sui growes in the end weary of it selfe Et maximam sui veneni partem bibit drinkes vp the greater part of her owne poyson occasioned by a gnawn wormeaten a wicked guilty conscience For as the Cruciaeries in Rome bore that Crosse which should afterwards beare them so God hath layde this conscience as a crosse on euery sinnefull wretch wherein hee suffers before before time of his full and final suffering A thing which the Heathens felt and discouered Sua quemque fraus suus terror maximè vexat sayeth Tullie Each mans owne fraud and his owne affrightment most disquiets him and those Furies sayeth hee doe anguish and pursue wicked men not with burning firebrands as wee see in Tragedies sed angore conscientiae but with the trouble of their conscience And Seneca most diuinely Nihil prod st inclusam habere conscientiam patemus Deo Quid quaeris quid machinaris quid abscondis custos tuus te sequitur Quid locum abdictum legis arbitros remoues Putas tibi contigisse vt oculos ouium effugias To what end sayeth he Doth a sinner chuse secresie or solitarinesse Demens quid prodest non habere conscium cum habes conscientiam Madman what auayles to haue no witnesse of thy wickednesse thou hauing a conscience which is a thousand witnesses A thing which euery sinner would shunne and cannot whose state is therefore resembled to the stricken Beare which running per syluas saltusque through woods and groues yet still haeret lateri laethalis arundo the deadly arrow sticks still in her side so runnes and rowles the perplexed sinner like Lucans Beare Se rotat in vulnus secum fugientem circuit hastam though hee wheele and turne round as the Wiseman sayth Impij ambulant in circuitu yet the Speare that wounded him fals not out Such men sayeth Plutarch are like men sea-sicke who being in the shippe thinke they should doe better in the boate and thence backe againe to the shippe nihil agunt c. They doe nothing sayeth he nothing to any purpose so long as their choler remaines in the stomacke So the Sinner no shift of place no change of ayre relieues him being dogged and tended on by Erynnis Conscientiae the Hellish Hagge or fury of his conscience that euer-gaping Cerberus that euer-waking blood hound eyther barking eager and so disturbs his rest which is bad enough or if it chance to sleepe it is farre worse if it wakes it makes him like a mad-man when it sleepes a Lethargique dull and senselesse if it speake a thousand wild Chymaeraes and winged furies and spirting serpents ride vpon the tongue of it but when it is dumbe it casts him into a stony deadnes which is an estate so damnable as we are wont to expresse it by resemblance to a Patient on whom Physicke works not or that seeles not himselfe sicke when both Physitians and friends know him desperate Ti 's Austines Quid miserius misero non miserante seipsum What more miserable then a wretch not to take compassion on himselfe Nor can it bee thought a pleasure for a sinner that his soule is growne ouer with a filme or cataract that he becomes obdurate seared and remorselesse and so secure like Ionas vnder hatches a sleepe for such a sleepe of the conscience is but a dogges sleepe as God tolde Cain in Gen. 4. If thou doest ill Sinne lyes at the dore lyes like a dogge at the dore vpon a sodaine to rise and plucke out his throat Tandemista tranquilitas tempestas est saith Saint
Ierome This seeming calme proues in the end a most cruell storme as a wheele seemes not at all to moue when it is whirled about with greatest violence Which if we would haue proued or exemplified beside prophane stories and dayly tryall the scripture is plenteous in furnishing vs with examples and testimonies Iosephs brethren Gen. 50.15 It may be hee will hate vs and pay vs againe the euill wee did him A fuller example is Herod in Mat. 14. who when Christ came to offer mercy out of the hell of his hart imagined Iohn Baptist had bin risen again to take vengeance So the Scribes and Pharisees in that iudgement of our Sauiour concerning the woman taken in adultery accused of their owne conscience went out one by one Iohn 8.9 The same sting it was made Baltazers countenance change and his ioyntes to bee loosed and his knees to knocke one against onother Dan. 5.6 So when Paul disputed of righteousnesse and temperance and the iudgement to come the Text sayeth Foelix trembled Act. 24.26 The time would fayle mee to speake of Adam of Saul of Iudas and sixe hundred more for it is in all wicked soules eyther the first part of hell a fire that burnes and consumes speedily or the second part a worme that closely frets and eates away and rots the soule and shall neuer die saith Esay 66 24. Such a man is like him the Apostle speakes of Tit. 3.11 Who is damned of himselfe his owne Iudge witnes hangman at least findes himselfe guiltie and nothing remaines but a fearefull looking for of iudgement and a violent fire Heb. 10.27 2 The second branch of the doctrine and that which is here exprest is that how euer the worlde rashly conceit good mens estate wretched and tempestuous yet they are the onely merry men aliue It is thought religion duls their wits daunts their spirits as if mirth and mischiefe euer met together But the Heathens haue beene able to tell vs that all blisse lyes not in a giddy lightnes There is sayeth Statius hilaris cum pondere virtus Vertue with mirth and weight in it and Tully could say Non hilaritate modo nec lascinia nec ioco comite lenitatis sed saepe etiam tristes firmitate constantiâ sunt beati Men many times seeming sad are blessed in the firmenesse and constancy of their temper For the true Christian man though hee runne still away yet his ioyes are deeper then the rushing noyse of shallow worldlings as Claudius speakes of Nilus Lene fluit sed cunctis omnibus exit vtilior nullas confessus murmure vireis though it shew no strength in his murmure and ratling yet it is more vsefull then other riuers This is true of a good conscience in the generall because it is in euery disease a Physition in strife a Lawyer in doubt a Preacher in griese a counsellor in sinne a confessor like a sweet persume at once taking away the noysome smell and leauing a sweet sauour for it or like the Vnicorns horne in water driuing poyson out of any estate This we shall in like maner find true if we take into our consideration those things which most afflict and trauell men in this life and wherewith the best men are oftentimes shaken and disturbed and theit evennes interrupted and en combred which be SIN and Affliction For we shall finde that which Iuvenal speakes of vertue Semita tranquillae per virtutem patet vnica vitae applyable more fitly to a good conscience that the way out of the forenamed difficulties and the path to arriue at quietnes is no other And for SIN first the dayly wrastlings combates against those reliques of sin are best known to them that haue experienced them Such will cry out in the bitternes of their soules with S. Paul I feele another law in my members rebelling against the law of my flesh and leading mee captiue into the law of sinne O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer mee from this body of death Rom. 7.23.24 Now a good conscience doth not onely preserue men from committing some sinne as Pride and enuy that Saw of the soule and paine of the damned and so works a peacefull innocency that way but it likewise cleares him from the guilt and horror of all sinne For first it is a procurer at least a fast friend to a bolde liuelie faith in God So the Author to the Hebrewes Heb. 10.22 Let vs draw neare in assurance of our faith with a true heart sprinckled in our hearts from an euill conscience and then in the next place it makes a man confident to come with boldnes to the throne of grace for if our heart condemn vs not then haue we confidence towards God 1. Iohn 3.21 In which regard Dauid ftiles God the God of his prayse the God of his righteousnes and the Apostle cals integrity of life and a good conscience arma institiae armour of righteousnesse on the right hand and on the left 2. Cor. 6.7 which preserues him safe from all assaults and snares and temptations of the diuell nay the righteous man gaines by euery such attempt of Sathan Doemones tentando nobis coronas fabricant euery temptation anoyded as it is a Crown to a man so it is a curse to his enemy And Origen imagined that it should increase the tormentors punishment In the meane time the righteous soule lyes couered vnder his buckler of Faith like little Teucer vnder the shield of Aiax secure from danger Nay Sin indeed hath now no further power to endamage him for as the spirite of God becomming his bosome friend doth like a new Hercules kill that rauening vulture which tyres vpon the liuer of his poore soule and when hee is in greatest anguish that he prayes and sighes and grones then that prayes for him sighes grones for him with such sighes such groanes so oppressed as they cannot bee expressed Rom. 8.26 So Christ Iesus his sauiour and mighty Redeemer hath pulled out the sting of it the poyson and virulency and malignity is taken away by him For the strength of sin is the Law now such men sayth the Apostle are no longer vnder the Law but vnder grace And therefore Saint Iohn is bold to say of such a man Hee doeth no sinne nor can doe none a strange speech yet most true hee cannot sinne fearefully finally with the whole sway and bent of his minde and affections or doeth no sinne which shall bee imputed to him or layde to his charge as Saint Paul Rom. 8.33.34 where hee seemes to giue out a generall callenge against all commers to doe their worst to vrge the vtmost they can T' is c. saith he Who is that man so hardy as dare tax the children of God Who shal lay anything to the charge of Gods elect It is God that iustifies who shall condemne c. So that in such men sinne though it remaine yet it doth not raigne there but is onely like a languishing
carcase in the graue daily rotting and consuming away they shall sinne so long as they beare about flesh and blood wherein dwells corruption they that fall cannot but be subiect to many weakenesses yet if they haue a good Conscience their fall is not like the fall of the Elephant which being down cannot rise againe but contrarie their falls teach them better how to stand and their infirmitie serues to confirme the vertue of their Constancie And which is the soueraine ioy of Gods people in euery sinfull tentation they doe like Hercules exire maiores growe greater which S. Paul meanes where he sayes Become more then Conquerours 2. And as thus they are not depressed by this enemie so neither doe they stoope or stand in seare of the other which is affliction It is a bitter thing to looke into the manifolde distresses and incombiances to be met and encountred yet a good Consciences abides the iniurie and assault batterie of them all vnmoued and vnappalled Illisos fluctus rupes vt vasta refundit Like a rock against which a thousand Billows rise and roare yet the stone for all their chasing and foaming keepes his place and beates them in pieces So the soule of such a man is like Socrates who was euer in one countenance nay it is in affliction like fire in winde more enflamed as a Traueller meeting in hindrance wil be more eager on his iourney like golde in the furnace neither lessened in his weight through differeÌ„ce or distrust of Gods goodnes Though he kill mee yet still I will trust in him nor evaporates or goes away in fume impatient follie In all these things did not Iob sinne with his mouth nor charge God foolishly but shines out fresher and purer then before in an holie life and conuersation And after hee hath stood the shocke and passed the storme of many afflictions he can yet encourage and cheere his sorrowful Fortunes speaking of his good conscience as Hecuba of Polixena when the rest were dead 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Good men indeed seeme the poorest and most wretched things on earth and are counted as S. Paul speaketh of himselfe the very off-scowring of all things Dauid and Iob and hee had pretie shares in affliction And a man that should read Iobs book and Dauids Psalms and S Paules Epistles would maruell to heare that these men were so merrie There is plenteous mention of fasting of teares of bonds of cold imprisonment nakednes c But wher 's this ioy this continuall feast we talke of Let the man that moues such questions knowe for certaine that hee vnderstands not such mens estates aright For the true Christian man is a bundle and world of wonders running contrary courses like the Antipodes strong when they are weake as the Moon waining to the earthward waxeth towards heauen Therefore S. Paul saith I take pleasure in infirmities in reproches in necessities in persecutions in anguish c. 2. Cor. 12.10 Indeed the comfort of the wicked is like a compound Medicine There must be pâ—â—…ing and dancing and dallying or they cannot seeme merrie but the godly mans pleasure is of another straine a newe kinde like a light shining in the ayre when no matter is seene to nourish it We are mistaken then if we thinke such men vpon earth it is true we see them heare as we see the Moone and starres in water but they are in heauen S. Paul saith plainely our conuersation is in Heauen already Their soule is where it would be as Gregorie of Mary Magdalene Maria ubi nos erat vbi erat c. She was not where she was for she was wholly where her Master was Hence is it that when the worldlings shrinks and sinkes vnder a little trouble they beare it out brauely and with a kind of heauenly scorne trample on all encombrances So Paul speakes disdainefully of tribulation Who shall separate vs from the loue of Christ shall tribulation c. as though hee thought it vnworthy the naming And the reason of this is nothing but the testimony of these mens soules and consciences assuring them first that all afflictions are momentany for a night ioy returning in the morning or if they last longer yet the Prophet Osee tels vs After two daies hee will reuiue vs and the third day hee will raise vs vp Ose 6.2 Secondly theyr conscience tels them how iustly these things are inflicted that the store of corruption in them deserues not onely this fire of affliction to purge them but euen hell fire to consume them that as God alway rewards supra meritum aboue mans desert so he punisheth citra iustitiam on this side his iustice and then thirdly makes them know that they are needfull for wiping away all teares in heauen doth necessarily ptesuppose wet eyes on earth resting their toyle and labour here and also good for them Dona Dei admonentis the good gift of God admonishing vs sayeth Austin It is good for mee sayeth Dauid Nay they are not onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 medidicines of their health and safety but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 special tokeÌ„s of Gods fatherly loue and kindnesse as the Apostle reasons Heb. 12.8 If yee bee without correction then are yee bastards and not sonnes So that men being once armed with this armour and strength of a sound heart and good conscience like Dauid with his stone and sling no vncircumcised Philistine can dismay him nothing in the world can sound to his discomfort Vbi in altum delati sumus when wee are carried into the deepe of calamity and trouble it is then the anker of a good conscience saith Caluin that keepes vs fuse that preserues our soules from perishing in the waters If afflictions atise like a spring of bitter waters yet the salt of a good conscience will season this spring and the waters shall bee healed or is thy griefe yet greater risen to a flood euen as the flood of Iordane that thou mayest cry with the Psalmist The waters are come in Lord euen to my very soule yet faint not for the vertue of a good conscience like the spirite of God in Elias will cut this Iordane and thou shalt goe ouer it in safety or yet more if the course and confluence of thy afflictions be swolne and risen to a sea whose waues are madde and rage horribly yet thy good conscience shall like the Arke of Noah beare thee aboue the pride and power of all those surges ouer whose backes thou shalt ride like another Arion in mirth and triumph or last of all if it come to the worst of all terrible afflictions that they increase to a red and bloody sea of tribulation and persecution why yet feare not stand still and behold the saluation of the Lord the spirite of God in the testimony of thy good conscience will speake peace to thy affrighted soule nay like Moyses will stretch his hand and his rod ouer this sea and diuide
it and thou shalt passe on drie ground through the midst thereof And as thus afflictions in generall do not endammage the true and righteous seruants of God but that they are bulwarkes and defenced against them so wee shall finde it true by running ouer some particulars Let there bee warre and deuastation sacking burning of townes rauishing of Matrones and Virgines and all the retinue of rage and horror enter vpon a land with noyse of weapons and tumbling of garments in blood as the Prophet describes it yet all this will not breake his truce with heauen he shal in the midst of warre enioy that peace which Christ left his Disciples That peace of God which passeth all vnderstanding Let it bee rumorde that all the braue and daring men in the world are comming on nay let him bee assured as vndoubtedly hee is from the word of God that all the Peeres and Princes of Hell are vp in Armes Principalities and powers and worldly gouernours Princes of the darknesse of this world spirituall wickednesse in hie places are banded and leagued against him yet he will bee able not onely to resist in the euill day but hauing finished all things to stand fast Ephes 6.12.13 And where the Apostle there mentions a girdle of verity and shooes of preparation a brest-plate of righteousnesse and a shield of faith an helmet of saluation and a sword of the spirite wee must know that hee which hath a good conscience hath all this furniture this complete harnesse of a Christian altogether For that alone is the armour of righteousnesse on the right hand and on the left which makes a good man as Solomon speaks bold as a Lion valiant as Gedeon or Sampson afrayde neyther of the arrow sayth Dauid that flies by night nor the plague which destroyes at noon day Nothing nothing can dismay the resolute Christian Stelliger mundus sonet flammas hic ille iaculetur polus Let the earth bee moued sayth Dauid and the foundation of it shake the mountains be cast into the midst of the sea I will not feare Si fractus illabatur orbis impauidum ferient ruinae though the world cracke and flie off the hindges yet this shal nor apall him but his heart wil be still like the hart of the Leuiathan firme as a stone and as hard as a peece of the neyther milstone Iob. 41.15 Let such a man bee defamed causelesly traduced in his good Name yet Tullie was able to say Conscientia virtuti satis amplum Theatrum A good Consciēce is a Theater large enough for vertue and the man that is not guiltie or conscious to himselfe of deseruing infamy hath saith Horace Murum aheneum a wall of brasse to retort and shoot into theyr owne bosomes all these fiery dartes of the wicked It seemes indeed that this scourge of Tongues is no meane vexation for Dauid calles such detraction by the names of Swordes and speares and sharpe arrowes and poysoned dartes and complaines miserably in his Psalmes an 100. times at least how cruelly hee was galled and infested with such weapons yet both hee and all the children of God from time to time haue vsed no other rampire but this of a good conscience which they haue euer sound so firme and solide that it hath been able in middest of the hottest assaults not to preserue from danger only but to powre into them a noble contempt of their assailers and a spirituall complacency in this kinde of calamity as wee heard from Saint Paules testimony of himselfe I take pleasure in infirmities and next addes in reproches in persecutions c. Let it be pouerty to him it is an estate full of pleasure Christ Iesus himselfe hath made it glorious and the Heathen hath tolde him Facile consolatur honestas egestatem Pouerty is soone cheared vp with honesty if hunger or thirst assayle him hee hath a good conscience to feed him which is a continuall Feast assuring him the Kingdome of Heauen stands not in meate and drinke Nay the righteous man is so far from affrightment at such trifles that Elihu tels vs When famine comes then comes his ioy his delight a destruction and famine hee shall laugh and though death be to wicked men vltimum terribilium a dampe a dampe that puts out all their light and marres their musicke yet to an honest heart and a good conscience it brings rather an affluence of comfort and reioycing a thing the children of God wish and long for Cupio dissolui I desire to bee dissolued and to bee with Christ Iesus So that in all afflictions how great how grieuous soeuer the conscience of a godly man is not distracted it may perchance slacken it selfe and bee scattered or dissolued at the first encounter but when it returnes into it selfe and arrests on the holy spirite of God and strength of his grace it doth not onely settle from all such wauerings and weakenesses but it growes so firme and bolde as to take ioy and solace therein when that which before was sowre and distastfull becomes sweet and gracious And this must needes be so it needs no proofe for how can it bee otherwise but that Gods children should bee men of ioy glad men as Dauid speakes Psal 68.3 Leaping for ioy when wee are taught by God himselfe that his Kingdome is the place of ioy nay nothing else but peace ioy in the holy Ghost Rom. 14.17 and his Gospell the matter of ioy as the Angell proclaimes from heauen Behold I bring you tidings of great ioy that shall be to all people To this purpose we haue plentifull testimonies in scripture that God will euer keepe and defend his chosen seruants tenderly as the apple of his eye beares them safe from danger as he did the Israelites vpon his wings as vpon a featherbed soft and secure he giues his Angels charge ouer them that they dash not their foot against a stone or if any one chance to fall Siceciderit sayth Dauid yet hee shall not perish for the Lord puts vnder his hand The Lions doe lacke and suffer hunger but they that seeke the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good Psal 34.10 Many sorrowes to the wicked but he that trusts in the Lord mercy imbraceth him on euery side Be glad ô yce righteous showt for ioy all yee that are true of heart Psal 32.10.11 The voyce of ioy and reioycing and saluation shall bee in the tabernacles of the righteous Psal 118.15 sayeth Solomon answeres a good man in the ioy of his heart Eccles 5. vlt. They that obey and serue him shall spend end their dayes in prosperity and their dayes in prosperity and their yeares in pleasure Iob. 36.11 God giues such sayeth Esaie beauty for ashes the oyle of ioy for mourning the garment of gladnesse for the spirite of heauines And as wee haue it in promise from God so in example of godly men that haue euer found it so as Dauid who
tartnes no sharpnes no bitternes in these afflictions no not in death it selfe for as God sweetly disposes and pleasantly compounds the rest so Christ Iesus is theyr taster in this He hath tasted death for all Hebr. 2.9 This is their maine cheare To this Sage and Succory Marioram gentle Patience and Honesty Harts-ease and Hearb-grace are sprinckled in for salades And all this before the banquet For that comes after wherein as wee see at feasts the same things serue for the Banquet too but otherwise cooked and disguised so it may happily fall out in this for remissiō of sinnes and hope of euerlasting glory are saies Latimer the sweet-meats to the feast of a good conscience And as for fruits as we are called in scripture the first fruits of his creatures so if we be of S. Pauls companie we haue the first fruits of his spirit Rom 8.23 where of S. Paul serues in often a brace Grace peace in God the Father c. And oftentimes a lease Grace mercie and truth c. And wee finde almost a douzen in a dish Galath 5.22.23 The fruits of the spirit is loue ioy peace long-suffering gentlenes goodnes Faith meekenes temperance c. After these come in all choyce and rare dainties mentioned in Isay 11.2 Wisedome and vnderstanding councell and strength Knowledge and the feare of the Lord which are called in Esay 55. by the names of Water milke and wine saturitie Fatnes c. In other places they are iointly named the Annoynting the oyle of gladnes where with as Christ Iesus was annoynted aboue his fellowes so being as S. Peter stiles him the Byshop of our soules he doth therewith annoint and consecrate vs Priests vnto God euen an holy and a Royall Priesthood 1.2.9 which is an oynement most sauory and redolent The sauour of thine oyntment is better then all spices Cant. 4.10 which heauenly Oyle is shead in our hearts by the holy Ghost that is giuen vs. Rom 5.5 Ther 's an other banquetting dish of loue and knowledge mine together For knowledge of it selfe is too windy it swell a man like puff past and shewe him vp but loue modefies and allayes it and makes it wholesome Then comes in the louing kindnesse of the Lorde making the Good-mans estate equall with that of Kings as Saint Paul tolde Agrippa in which regarde God is sayde to crowne vs with louing kindnes tender mercy Psa 103.4 So that righteous mē are so many crowned Kings Nay faieth the Apostle more then conquerours Rom. 8. What 's more then conquerours Why Triumphers for hee makes vs to triumph in Christ 2. Cor. 2.14 Next the good faithfull soule receiues in this banquet a Christall bellie made of the blood of Christ not Sanguis Draconis but Leonis of the Lion of the Tribe of Iuda or rather of the Lambe of God a strange and strong restoratiue more then all their pectorall rowles or Mythridate or aurum potabile that will fetch life againe sooner then all their cordiall waters for this indeede is the true Aqua Coelestis and Rosa Solis of the Sunne of righteousnesse one droppe whereof is sufficient for a thousand worlds After this comes that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that full assurance of faith in Christ which is the true Manus Christi that passeth all their Marmelade Succate And last of all is that food of Angels hidden Manna so called Apos 2.17 which is a kind of secret consolation which the Lord infuseth into the hearts of his faiththfull seruantes such as keepe a good conscience which farres exceeds all the stellifyed meates of Alchymists and Coniurers transports and rauisheth the soule of man as S. Peter hauing a taste of it talkes of building Tabernacles and Saint Paul it seemes had some relish of it where hee sayeth I ouerflow exceedingly I abound with all ioy amidst our tribulation This it makes a man forget all sensuall pleasure and is not only food but a riuer of spirituall drinke to the soule which prouokes Austin to cry Pota me Domine torrente volupt atis vt nil iam mundanorum libeat degustare veneualae dulcedimis Giue mee of this drinke Lord that I desire not the poysonous delights of the world This occasioned the same Father to entitle a good conscience a paradise abounding with graces and delights And Hugo to stile it a garden of delight and the golden diuing Chamber of the holy Ghost And so much for the meat and drinke The second thing that commends a feast is the Company It is a speech of a Romane in Plutarch that hee had only eaten not supped when he wanted company Now company are eyther guests or attendants both these magnifie the feasts of a good conscience for the guests are the blessed glorious Trinity For a good conscience wee haue heard hath the spirit his bosom-friend such a foule the Tēple the closet of the holy-Ghost for his father our Sauiour tells vs Iohn 14. to the man that loues him his Father will come and dwell with him And of himselfe Rerel 3.20 Beholde I stand at the dore and knocke if any man heare my voyce and open the dore I will come in to him and will suppe with him and he with me Our best friends vse to be best welcome and can a man haue a dearer Guest a better friend then Christ Iesus for he vouchsafes to call good men his friends Ioh 15.13 his kinsmen in other places his brethren his children his mother his Spowse to shew that he loues vs with all these loues the friendes the kinsmans the brothers the fathers the wifes Nay his is as high aboue these as is Heauen aboue earth and therefore hauing him our guest wee haue him in the knot and ring and packe of all our frinds together As for the Attendants at this feast they are no common wayters ordinary Seruing men but the blessed Angells of heauen Are they not all ministring Spirits sent out to minister for their sakes that shall be heyres of saluation Hebr. 1. vlt who as they ministred to Christ assoone as the diuell forsooke him so when we are once ridde of the diuell of hell of an euill conscience they presently be our seruants and as they ministred to him in his hunger for the Angells to all his in thyrst and hunger are as Luther is bolde to say Cookes and Butlers 3. The third circumstance of a feast is light t' is therefore a plague saith Ecclesiastes to a couetous wretch that alwayes he eates in darknes And indeed what is a feast without light so t is in the soule therefore the wicked hart or conscience is described in scripture to be voyde of light full of darknes hauing theyr cogitations darkned Ephes 4.18 Their foolish heart is full of darknes Rom 1.21 And all they can doe all their works are deedes of darknes Rom 13.12 But the children of God like the land of Goshen haue light enough they walke in the light and are children of
the day translated from the kingdome of darknes into his meruellous light So as the righteous soule needes no taper or torch-light at his feast specially if we remeÌ„ber what company is therefore First there is the comforter the bright and glorious spirit which makes him that is spirituall to discerne all things 1. Cor. 2.15 There is also God the Father in companie who is Pater luminum the Father of Light Iames 1.17 and Christ Iesus who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Light of the world the day-spring from on high a Light to bee reuealed to the Gentiles and the glorie of his people Israell 4 As for the last circumstance of Musicke the good conscience hath inough euery string of his heart sounds out a pleasant melody pleasing in the cares of Almighty God himselfe First God playes on the heart strings of his children Vt sila cordaram sic corda filioram tangit and moues them easily then they sound forth his prayse in Psalmes and hymnes and spirituall songs making melody in their hearts vnto God at which Musicke the enuious diuell ftaÌ„ds without the dore like the elder brother in the Parable fretting and discontent at the noyse hee heares within Secondly the very afflictions here endured as they are musicke to a good conscience according to that of Prudencius Tormenta carcer vngulae stridenque flammis c. All kind of tortures are pleasant to a Christian Thy rodde sayeth Dauid comforts mee So likewise do they serue as so many musicall iustruments to prayse God withall as it was sayd of Romanus the Martyr Tot ecce laudant ora quet sunt vuinera That all his gaping woundes were so many mouthes to celebrate Gods glory And as their suffering so their prayers teares are sweeter musicke in the eares of God then Spheares or the harmony of Angels Especially the repentant teares of a sad soule are an excellent Musicke in voyces that is heard as hie as heauen So God tels Manasses Thou hast wept before me and I haue heard it it seemes the Angels heare it too for it is sayde of them that they reioyce at a weeping sinners conuersion And yet here is not all For it is not onely a feast but a continuall feast The royall feast of Assuerus in Est 1. lasted but a 100. 80. dayes but this is euerlasting A good conscience then holds out in all weathers which made Pindar call it the sweet nurse of a mans old age The comfort of prophane worldlings like a torrent soone runnes it selfe drie and away but the godly mans peace is like a perpetuall spring hee growes and goes on in grace Therefore in Ezechiel onely the stayres of the Temple were left vnnumbered vnmeasured intimating that the ascension to God grace and so to his glory is endlesse Therefore Gods mercy his grace are stiled a rich grace a great mercy a superabundant grace a lasting mercy better then all conserues and preserues of which the Poet sayeth Inamarescunt epulae sine fine petitae They will grow bitter if common but this is as sweet and tender and delicate to a man in his age as in his youth nay sweeter and sweeter like that wine in Iohn 2. best at last So that the good mans feast beginnes at All-Saints at our sanctity and holines here and lasts till the great generall Purification till our bodies be deputed of all earthly drosse our foules of sinne that is till wee arriue at Heauen It is true the godly mans condition in respect of death is all one with the wicked hee must die but when death like a Voyder comes to take away hee doth not then rise from his banquet discontent as the wicked soule Vitaque cum gemita fugie indignata sub vmbras with noyse and murmuring but he departs Cedit vticonuiua satur like a full guest satissied to sleepe to rest till supper For so death to a man that hath this feast of a good conscience is but a Feast of slumber till supper time till hee come to that Marriage Supper of the Lambe spoken of in Reu. 19.9 Where for plenty and variety of meate and drinke he shal be better then before for it is saide in Gods presence is fulnes of ioy and at his right hand are pleasures for euermore psalm 16.11 where for his Banquet of grace he shall haue one of glorie for the fruits of the spirit heere he shall there feed on the fruits of the Tree of life which beares 12. manner of fruits Reuel 22.2 And for Light he shall need none there neither Sunne nor Moone to lighten that holy Citie For the glory of God doth lighten it the Lambe is the light of it And for company beside manâ—… that shal come from the East from the west and shall sit down at table with Abrah Isack Iacob in the kingdome of heauen Mat. 8.11 a huge nuÌ„ber in Reu 7 9. which no man can nuÌ„ber of all nations kindreds which shal stand before the Lamb clothed with long white robes palmes in their hands and besides the fellowship of Saints and Angels the soule shall there enioy her olde company of the Glorious blessed Trinitie and then shall see GOD not any longer in aenigmatè but see him face to face know euen as shee is knowne As also she shall still retaine her ancient attendants of the blessed Angells our blessed Sauiour telleth vs he wil wayt vpon vs. In the Saturnals saith Macrobius masters serue their seruaÌ„ts at this high baÌ„quet our Lord M. Cor. Ies wil gyrd himself be our seruitour And lastly for Musicke All the Angels shall loudly sound their Clarions The Prophets shal bring their harpes of gold and Iuory And the glorious army of Martyrs shall bring their trumpets of siluer all the whole Quire Chorus of heauen shall sing Huleluiah that song of 3. parts Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Saboath Amen blessing glory wisdome and thanksgiuing and honor power be vnto our God for euer and ouer Amen In a word to resolue this speculation into vse practise Let vs learne not to loue the world or the vaine profit foolish pleasures of this life we see there is no true mirth no sound ioy to be found in theÌ„ let therfore vain worldlings pamper fill theÌ„selues with such painted food and so obtaine perhaps a painted tombe or a partial flourishing Epitaph after death But let vs labour for the meate that perisheth not the food that lasteth euer as graces abundance of content namely a good conscience which is both a feast in this life and a preparatiue to a banquet in the life to come Amen Gloria Deo in Excelsis FINIS