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
A39261	The necessity of serious consideration, and speedy repentance, as the only way to be safe both living and dying. By Clement Elis, M.A. Rector of Kirkby in Nottinghamshire	Ellis, Clement, 1630-1700.	1691 (1691)	Wing E566; ESTC R171929	98,541	214

But this is not all for we shall certainly find that the longer we delay the greater will the work be And then whatever the causes be that now persuade us to delay it they are more likely to persuade us to delay hereafter than now If they can prevail with us to neglect a necessary work when 't is less they will more easily prevail when the very greatness of the work seems enough of it self to dishearten us from going about it Let us then consider how much greater a work it will be to repent hereafter than now First It is very certain that the longer we have neglected to learn the will of God the more we have to learn And the longer we have neglected to do the Commandments of God the more we have to do The longer we stay before we repent the more sins we have to repent of He that hath long since begun his work and hath made a considerable progress in it will not hereafter find so much to do as he that hath done nothing at all of it but hath then all to begin All those Omissions and Neglects we have been every day guilty of come then to be repented of as well as the things which have been neglected and omitted as far as 't is possible to be done and all this labour had been saved had we repented and done our duty in due time We every day sin even though we do all that we can to avoid it which yet we seldom do and every day we ought to repent of the sins of the day and therefore till we repent every day much increaseth the labour of Repentance because every day adds to the number of our sins to be repented of And our delay to repent when we have sinned is one of the greatest sins of all and every day's delay is such a new sin added to that of the former day And indeed so long as a man delayeth his Repentance he doth nothing else but heap up sin upon sin and every thing he doth is full of sin And what a task doth he thus make himself to repent of all these sins hereafter Yea every Conviction that we have sinned and ought to repent and every purpose and resolution and thought of repenting not speedily put in execution is an aggravation of our guilt and makes our sins the more sinful the less excusable and more hardly pardonable because 't is a sign that we go on in sin against Knowledg against Conscience against the good Motions of God's Holy Spirit and against the Rebukes of our own Hearts the delay is throughly wilful and sin is freely chosen and thus our sins become as great as can be and are a striving against Conscience a resisting and grieving of the Spirit a quenching of its holy Motions and a daily fighting against God or a resolute maintaining our ground against him And must not all this make Repentance a much harder work than otherwise it might have been How much easier is it to pluck up two or three weeds daily in a Garden as we perceive them shooting forth than to weed one that through neglect is quite overrun with them And to how much better purpose too were it so to do For by that means the good Plants have liberty to thrive and flourish whilst by neglect all that 's good is choaked up and rarely turns to any advantage So much easier is it and to far better purpose and advantage to repent early than late When one hath gone on but a few steps in a wrong way and will not then turn back because he thinks it too much pains for him to do so how much more unwilling is he like to be to go back again when he is gone on many miles He that is afraid to encounter two or three Enemies at present will hardly be so stout afterwards as to set upon an Army of many thousands especially when by his delay he hath given them time to strengthen themselves And this is the second thing that we are here to consider that by our delay we suffer our sins to grow not only in number but in strength too and as it is easier to repent of a few sins than many so must it needs be a far harder task to conquer many sins in their full strength than a few and weaker too Every one knows by woful experience if ever he have attempted to get the mastery of his sin what strength every sin gains in us by our long accustoming of our selves to it and how much easier it is to leave off the practice of any sin after but once or twice committing it than after that by frequent committing of it it is become habitual and in a manner natural to us and when we have by custom brought our selves to that pass that we seem to our selves to stand in as much need of our sin as we do of our food and raiment and can as little be content without it 'T is easie to pluck up a tender Sprout of the first or second years growth but this by letting it stand and grow is every year harder and harder to do and at last when 't is become a strong Tree impossible for the strongest man to do 'T is easie to quench a small spark that 's but just taking hold of the Thatch but 't is not so easie to extinguish the fire when the whole House is on a flame It may be no difficult matter to cure a little Sore at first but it will be more hard to do it when by delay 't is grown into a hollow and filthy Ulcer and hardly possible if it come to a Cancer or a Gangreen How strange a thing is it then that we should delay our Repentance the only cure of a diseased and ulcerous Soul till by delay we become almost past possibility of being cured Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots Then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil Jer. XIII 23. 3. As our work by delay grows greater so our strength for such a work grows less and that makes it still harder The more sick a man groweth or the longer he lieth under his Disease the weaker he groweth too and the less strength he hath to help himself Tho we are all corrupt enough by nature and as we are so of our selves by much too weak to conquer any Lust without the help of supernatural Grace yet our giving way to our natural corruption and our indulging our selves in our own weaknesses makes us still weaker and weaker He that exerciseth not his strength by degrees loseth it And he that instead of resisting his Enemy as well as he can layeth himself down at his feet to be trod upon will find that he hath then less strength to raise himself up than he had at first to stand his ground In like manner he that instead of making what defence he is able stands still and lets his Enemy give him wound