Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
conscience_n	knowledge_n	sin_n	sin_v	2,885	5	9.7377	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29368	The freeness of the grace and love of God to believers discovered in reference to 1. their services and suffering, 2. their consolations, and 3. their salvation and eternal glory : together with the excellency of the fear of God, the goodness and pleasantness of brotherly love, the wisdom of hearing the voice of the rod, repentance the only way to prevent judgements / delivered in several sermons by the late reverend and faithful minister of Christ, Mr. William Bridg ...	Bridge, William, 1600?-1670.	1671 (1671)	Wing B4454; ESTC R19668	79,842	192

countenance upon us Thou hast put more gladness in my heart than in the time that their Corn and their wine increased Now according to the opening and shutting of these things so will your comforts be How is it therefore with you Is there any ebbing and flowing How is the righteousness of Christ How is the light of Gods countenance discovered to you Are they laid open to you Then are you truly comforted in a way of free grace and love That is the second Thirdly If you be comforted in a way of free grace and love then your comforts are true friends to holiness of life That comfort that is wrought by the grace of God without you is the greatest friend to the grace of God within you and to holiness in your lives False comfort is a friend to sin a neighbour a guard to sin but no friend to true and gracious comfort yea those that have this false comfort can indure sins against conscience But now where there is true comfort and comfort from the grace of God there conscience is as the Apple of the Eye and the man cannot indure the least sin he cannot bear the least Mote of sin to lie upon his conscience How is it therefore with you is your comfort a friend to holiness of life and can you say the more comforted I am the more holy I am Then you are truly comforted But suppose I want comfort now and that I am one of a drooping trembling spirit and of an afflicted heart what shall I do that I may be comforted and comforted in a way of free grace I Answer First Go away and be sensible of your unbelief for it is want of believing that hinders our comfort and when the comforter comes he will convince the world of sin and especially of unbelief would you then be comforted in a way of free love Go then I say and be sensible of your unbelief and be humbled for it Secondly Observe what those things are that hinder your spiritual comforts and take heed of them They are many I will only name some of them As First Worldly fears and worldly delights these are enemies to true comfort Secondly Sins against conscience they that sin against knowledge will hardly have peace of conscience nay it is pitty they should have peace lest they be ingaged and incouraged thereby to sin those that sin against Conscience will hardly have peace Do you think to have the Spirit to be your friend whom you grieve so often if then you would be truly comforted you must have a great care of sinning against conscience and thereby grieving the spirit that spirit whereby you are sealed to the day of Redemption Ephes 4.30 would you then be truly comforted Observe I say these things that hinder your spiritual comfort can you think that what you grieve most should comfort you most Therefore as you expect true comfort have a care of grieving the spirit of God Thirdly If at any time God make a tender of grace or offer a word of comfort and peace to you be sure you do not refuse it We are apt to refuse to be comforted but be sure you accept of it especially in a time of Temptation Fourthly Be sure you do not rest upon your own performances in reference to your comforts Brethren and Beloved think on these things and compare them with your own daily experiences I say if you would be truly comforted do not rest on your own performances As we are apt to rest upon our own Righteousness in reference to our Justification so we are apt also to rest upon our own performances in reference to our comforts O take heed you do not go about to establish your own comforts upon the bottom of your own performances for if you do you will not submit to the consolations of God Fifthly If you would be comforted in a way of free grace and love then study much the freeness of the grace of God What is the reason people are no more comforted It is because they see no more of the grace of God the free grace of God the more you look into the riches and freeness of Gods grace the more you will be comforted Sixthly If you want comfort at any time walk graciously in the want of it When you want comfort go to God and say Lord although I cannot see thee yet will I serve thee and although I cannot enjoy thee yet I will obey thee and although I cannot see thy face yet I will follow after thee if by any means I may obtain thee Walk graciously in the want of your comforts Seventhly Set your self to rejoyce in him that gives you comfort Rejoyce in the Lord alwaies and again I say rejoyce saith the Apostle Phil. 4.4 He doth not only say humble your self for sin which is a duty and a great duty but he saith Rejoyce and again I say rejoyce in the Lord Rejoyce in the Lord who gives you comfort freely As much as you have been humbled for sin formerly so much should you now rejoyce that you have been comforted and freely comforted by the grace of God Rejoyce so much in the Lord of your comforts Eighthly To name them only If you would be comforted in a way of free grace and love then be thankfull for your comfort He that is thankfull for a little shall have much be thankfull therefore to God for your comfort Lastly Would you be comforted in a way of free grace and love then go to God for that comfort Friends and Beloved God is willing most willing to comfort and what will you not go to him God is willing to make good his name and his Title now this is one of his Titles I am the Lord that comforteth He is willing to do what Christ was sent to do the spirit of the Lord is upon me to comfort all that mourn Isa 61.2 Is not God willing to do it He hath sent the comforter also to comfort you yea he hath given his Ministers charge to comfort you Comfort ye comfort ye my people Isa 40.1 and are not you willing now to receive what God hath promised I will not leave you comfortless I will come unto you John 14.15 You will be troubled and reason with your selves yet I will not leave you comfortless As one whom his mother comforteth so will I comfort you and ye shall be comforted Isa 66.13 Therefore now O poor drooping soul go to God for he is willing to comfort thee if thou be but willing to go unto him Only in your going to God observe these two or three directions First When you go to God for comfort go to the Office which he hath set up for comfort the Office of the Holy-Ghost Secondly When you go to God shut your eyes and cast your self at an adventure upon the free grace of God Thirdly In going to God for comfort you must stay Gods leasure some come and ask of God and because

accounts Read what the Psalmist saith Psal 31.19 O how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee that thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the Sons of Men. Yea further if you truly fear the Lord The eye of God shall be upon you for good unto him will I look that trembleth unto him will I look that feareth saith the Lord. Again if you truly fear the Lord the Lord will delight in you Yea God will be a God unto you God will be a strong Tower to you and he will sanctify all unto you and to say no more They that fear the Lord shall want no good thing O what a blessed thing is it then to fear the Lord for from him God will with-hold no good thing and thus you see the Issue of this fearing of God Consider it consider I say the consequence and Issue of it and let it be so many motives to stir you up more and more to fear the Lord. So much shall serve for the Doctrinal part Now then by way of Application Here we may see what a sad excuse that will be which many make That say they do but as others do but Alas this is an excuse fit for the lips of those only who fear not God at all But Secondly If this Doctrine be true then here you may see who those are that fear God in truth there are many pretenders to it but we find here that those that truly fear the Lord cannot will not do as others do They will not do as others do in the matter of their choice in the matter of their worship nor of their calling nor in what they are intrusted with nor in their refreshments nor in their Afflictions nor in their right and propriety and if it be so how few are there that fear the Lord in Truth They that truly fear God say always as Nehemiah But so did not I because of the fear of God There are many that lie quiet under sins of Omission and under sins of Commission too but so will not I because of the fear of God Do others sin and do others act contrary to the will of God yet let us not do so but let us say with Nehemiah But so will not I because of the fear of God O therefore let me desire all to fear the Lord And for you that do fear the Lord be you comforted for comfort belongs to you Everlasting mercy belongs to you who fear the Lord Jer. 31.3 I have loved you with an Everlasting love But it may be some will say I am afraid I do not fear the Lord and so this comfort doth not belong to me why consider First Do you make conscience of what you do doth your conscience accuse you or not for what you do do you find conscience accuse or excuse Secondly Have you not sinned in the dark when none could accuse but God only and do you Act and walk and live and labour as if you were in the presence and sight of God if you do thus then you do fear the Lord And then it shall be well with you Eccles 8.12 Again Thirdly Do you run and speak one to another if so then this is to fear the Lord for it is said that they that feared the Lord spake often one to another Mal. 3.16 And Fourthly Do you truly desire to fear the Lord then look into Nehemiah and observe his spirit well and do accordingly And to say no more Have you had advantages to make you rich in this world and would you not take them because of the fear of God then certainly you have received free grace and you have the Spirit of God for this is a true sign that you have true grace in your hearts and that you are one of them that truly fear the Lord and therefore be you comforted for comfort belongs unto you everlasting mercy belongs unto you But it may be some will say Suppose I do not fear the Lord what shall I do that I may fear the Lord fear him as I should do fear him more and more For answer If you would fear the Lord in truth Then First Be humbled for want of this fear That man is not far from grace who is humbled for the want of grace a man will never be humbled for unbelief unless he be humbled for the want of it Secondly Go to God and beg of him to fulfil his promise God hath said I will put my fear into their hearts Now go to God I say and beg and desire him that he would make good this promise to you Thirdly If you would fear God in truth then observe what that is that is neerest and dearest to you and give that up to God You know Abraham offered up Isaac his only Son and saith God By this I know thou fearest me And further Fourthly If you would fear the Lord in Truth then worship God according to his own appointment take heed of mingling of Gods worship with any of mans Inventions for he that doth so feareth not God nor worshippeth him according to his own appointment And then Fifthly If you would fear the Lord in Truth then take heed of sinning when you have an opportunity Again Sixthly If you would fear God more than love the Lord more labour to strengthen your love to God Again Seventhly If you would have your fear strengthned more and more then study much the free grace of God in giving out his mercy to one more than to another Two in a field the one taken and the other left Two walking together the one taken and the other left If you would strengthen your fear study much the free grace of God Eightly If you would fear the Lord in Truth Live much in and study much upon dependance wholly upon God it is our great duty to depend upon God If a man be upon a high Tower and another holds him from falling by the hand only he will certainly be very fearful of offending him that holds him so why we are thus in the hand of God and our dependance is upon him for every thing how fearful ought we then to be of offending this God O study your dependance upon God more and more and Again Use the world as using it not deal with men as in the presence of God and when you are dealing with men be sure to deal with God before all the men of the world Again Let your eye be very much upon the Severity and Justice of God upon his severity and Justice consider Gods severeness to Adam in eating the forbidden fruit and his severeness to Moses for a word that for one word God would not let him enter into the promised land and consider his severity to David for numbring the people Yea Again consider That God cannot only destroy the body but soul and body too Therefore O man fear him that can destroy both body and soul when