Examination is a kind of judiciary proceeding in which a man keepeth priuate Sessions at home passing sentence of all his workes and actions as Gods Law doth require This the Apostle implyeth wheÌ„ hauing first said (a) 1 Cor. 11.28 Let a man examine himselfe so let him eate c. he addeth by way of confirmation to proue the necessity or profitablenes of this work (b) vers 31. For if we would iudge our selues we should not be iudged that is if wee would censure and passe sentence on our selues by a diligent performance of this worke of Examination God would spare vs or he would not censure vs the second time after we had done it our selues already To this purpose (c) Exposit in Psal 4. S. Chrysostom calleth it an erecting of a Tribunall for the conscience and S. Gregorie (d) Nec deest in hoc Iudicio mente concepto omne ministerium quod punire reoâ— suos pleniùs debeat Nam Conscientia accusat Ratio iudicat Tiraor ligat Dolor excruciat Greg. Moral l. 25. cap. 6. that in this priuate iudgèment there wanteth no Officer that is vsuall for punishing of guilty persons for the Conscience saith he is the Accuser Reason is the Iudge Feareus the Gaeler and Sorrâ—â— is the Executioner And therefore looke what the proceeding is and what actions are vsuall in publike Iudgements where men are questioned and sentenced according to Law and the like course is heere to bee held and the same actions are to be performed in the examination of a mans soule conscience For as in those legall proceedings there is first an enquirie into the facts what hath beene done which by the Law deserueth censure Secondly there is sentence pronounced according to the nature of the crimes and the proofe made of them Thirdly there is punishment inflicted either for the amendment of the offender or for example and terror to others that they offend not in like sort Or if the partie accused be cleared by the Iurie hee is acquitted and set free by the Iudge So in this Court of priuate Sessions first there is an enquirie or search to finde out the transgressions or offences of the soule Secondly there is sentence to bee pronounced according as the nature of the facts doth require Thirdly if the sentence bee condemnatory punishment is to be inflicted by the offenders conscience vpon himselfe that by taking a holy reuenge vpon his owne folly hee may be made more carefull of offending afterward Or if a man shall be so happy as after enquirie to find nothing by himselfe he may cheere his soule with an Euge serue bone c. (a) Mat. 25.21 Well done thou good and faithfull seruant And heereby the sincere Christian may bee encouraged in Gods seruice and animated to proceede in those holy courses in which hee hath found so much comfort already And because there is no man that doth faithfully performe this seruice of examining his soule but he shall be sure to finde something wherein hee hath sinned and something wherein he hath serued God aright therefore he shall neuer want matter either to condemne or in some part to absolue himselfe more or lesse according as his life hath beene in times past and according as he hath made vse of this and such other exercises of Religion And consequently in euery Examination if it be throughly performed a man will lightly gaine two helps toward Heauen First by condemning of himselfe he will conceiue feare of relapsing into sinne and secondly by acquitting himselfe hee will gaine more comfort to proceede in well-doing By this it may appeare in part what the nature of this worke is and wherein it doth consist but for the more distinct knowledge of this point it may further be noted that there be two sorts of acts which are implyed in this word Examination and in some sort included in it some are essentiall and contained in the nature of it and some are accidentall and to be conioyned with it and indeed are presupposed to accompany it when it is rightly vndertaken Of the former sort are these three 1 Discussion 2 Application and 3 Censure Discussion is a sifting of our life and dealings by which we pull things out of the heape where before they lay confused and vnseene and by which we set euery fact of ours in the open view that they may be scanned and seene by themselues what they are Application is a laying of these acts thus searched and found out to the rule of Gods Law which is the touchstone of all our doings and according to which God will iudge vs at the last day that so it may appeare how and wherein we haue swarned from Gods Law or haue obserued it Lastly Censure is the iudgement that our mindes and consciences doe giue vpon our deeds according to the rule of the Law both for the quality of them whether they bee righteous or sinfull and for the quantity of the offence whether it be great or small whether a sinne of ignorance or a sinne against conscience and whether of humane frailety or of obdurate contumacie The first act serueth to shew what wee haue done the second what wee should haue done and the third what the doome is that wee haue deserued either by well or ill doing And these three laid together doe as I take it make vp the nature of this worke of Examination so that we may not vnfitly describe it out of its owne principles in some such maner as this Examination is a discussion of a mans life that his workes may be seene and censured according to the rule of Gods Law Secondly for the second sort of acts which are implyed in this word and ought to be ioyned with this worke they are two especially the one going before the proper acts of Examination and that is a purpose to better a mans spirituall estate by correcting what is amisse and confirming what is sound and vpright And the other is an act that followeth after Examination that is an effectuall practice or execution of such rules and orders as may back our examination and make it more effectual vsefull For which purpose these rules following may perhaps be not impertinent nor vnfit euery wise Christian may as his experience shall giue him further occasion adde and vse more of his owne or other mens obseruation 1. Rule Rule 1 That after wee haue examined our soule 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil de Abdicatione rerum in fine p. 246. we doe then compare our present with our precedent state and consider whether we haue amended indeed what we blamed our selues for in our former examinations and how wee haue either increased or decreased in grace and goodnesse that if we haue been slothfull and vnprofitable seruants we may snubbe and shame our selues for it before God and our owne consciences in some such manner as our Lord snubbed the euill seruant in the Gospell
life for finding out the true estate of a mans soule toward God accompanied with a purpose and endeuour to doe whatsoeuer vpon tryall shall appeare requisite for saluation and the good of a mans soule CHAP. III. Of the Obiect of this worke or the matter about which it is to be exercised HItherto we haue spoken of the acts now we are to consider of the Obiect or matter about which they are to be bestowed and imployed And it may bee considered two wayes either generally and such as it is in the largest extent which wee may call the adequate obiect or specially and such as is in more principall manner to bee respected and looked to which may be called the Principall or speciall obiect I. And first for the adequate obiect including euery thing that ought to be examined or about which a Christian should examine himselfe it is whatsoeuer either thought word or deede which carrieth any respect either of righteousnes or sinfulnesse in it or all both our good and our euill deedes For Examination being as before was noted a kinde of iudiciary proceeding with our owne soules in which wee keepe Sessions at home that we may prepare for the great Iudgement it hath for its obiect the same matter that shall be discussed and sentenced at the day of the last Iudgement And that is as Solomon telleth vs euery worke whether good or euill For (a) Eccles. 11.14 GOD saith he shall bring euery worke into iudgement with euery secret thing whether it bee good or euill that is euery thing that is morally euill or morally good or which is either sinfull or righteous And therefore in imitation of Gods proceeding in his Iudgement we also should proceede in our iudging of our selues which is to consider of euery thing which is either good or euill sinfull or righteous a breach of Gods Law or a performance of it But for our more distinct vnderstanding and our better direction heerein it will not bee amisse to consider our good and our euill workes each apart by themselues And first for our euill deedes or our sinnes wee may note these rules following 1. We must consider and examine our schies as well concerning our omissions of duties as commissions of euils For in the last Iudgement our Lord the Iudge of quicke and dead he will not onely giue sentence against murders and oppressions and robberies and such like but (b) Matth. 25.41 42 43. against vnmercifulnesse also and the not feeding of the hungry the not lodging of the stranger the not clothing of the naked the not visiting of the sicke c. And so when wee are to iudge our selues wee must censure not onely our hurting of our neighbour but our not helping of him nor onely our back-biting of our neighbour but our not defending of his good name nor onely our persecuting of Gods Word but our not profiting by it nor onely our robbing of the poore but our not relieuing of them and so in all other the like cases our not doing of that which is good when dutie doth require it of vs is culpable before God and is part of that matter about which our Examination ought to be exercised 2. We must consider not onely the substance of our sinnes but the circumstances of them also such as are the persons the time the place the facion or manner of doing c. for all these may either aggrauate or mitigate the sinne So we see that the treason of Iudas is counted the more grieuous Psal 41.9 Ioh. 13.18 because he was one of Christs familiar friends which did cate of his bread and Maâ—asses his idolatrie was the more hainous because hee (a) 2 Chron. 33.7 set his idol in the House of God of which GOD had said to Dauid and to Solomon his Sonne In this House and in â—erusalem which I haue chosen before all the tribes of Israel will I put my name for euer And so the cruel dealing of the Iews was the more hainous because (b) Isa 58.3 4. in the day of their fast they did exact all their labours and did smite with the fist of wickednes And Solomons idolatry did anger offend God the more because (a) 1 King 11.9 10. his heart was turned from the Lord which had appeared vnto him twise and had commanded him concerning this thing that hee should not goe after other Gods And so our sinnes will be the more grieuous if we wrong them who haue helped vs or if in the Church of God and in the time of his seruice our hearts doe meditate reuenge or forecast vniust deuices or take pleasure to thinke on our fleshly lusts c. And therefore these circumstances are to come into the account together with the maine sinnes 3. Thirdly not onely the sinne but the occasion of it is to be considered for this may either increase or diminish the guiltinesse of it As the rich man that had many sheepe of his owne and yet tooke away the poore mans lambe 2 Sam. 12.1 c. to make his friend welcome with was the more grieuous offender by much because hauing no neede hee did rob the poore man And againâ— the consideration of the occasion or prouocation by which we were led into sinne may teach vs wiscome by shunning such occasions to escape from the sinnes 4. Fourthly wee are to reckon among our sins that must be accounted for not onely our commissions of euill deedes and omissions of good duties but euen our vnperfect and defectiue performances For of these the Church of God doth accuse themselues (b) Isa 64.6 All our righteousnesses are as filthy raggs and in respect of these it was that the High Priest was by the Law (c) Exod. 28.38 to carrie the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel should hallow in all their holy gifts For that doth imply that the seruices of Gods people had their imperfections and errors which because they were failings in duties were to bee borne by Iesus our High Priest as our other sins were And therefore wee must reckon with our selues not onely for omitting or neglecting the exercises of Religion but for our distractions our wandring thoughts and our cold and dull affections while we did performe them Thus our euill deedes or sinnes may be considered our good workes and holy duties may not be neglected neither and that for these reasons 1. Because we are many times deceiued with shewes thinking that to be good which is euill and that to bee some great good which is but a poore seruice in comparison Thus (a) Philip. 3.6 Paul thought hee shewed much zeale when bee persecuted the Church of Christ and (b) Iudg. 17.13 Micah thought hee had highly demerited Gods fauour when hee kept a Priest for idolatrous seruice and Iehu boasted of his killing of Ahabs children (c) 2 King 10.16 Come with me saith he and see my zeale for the
comfort in the practice of this vngratefull worke in regard whereof I may truly say and that shall be the clause of this point Either examining will make a man leaue his sinning or sinning will make him leaue off examining III. Thirdly Examination maketh vs indifferent Iudges betweene others and our selues the due performance of this worke will make vs more indifferent and more equall in iudging of our neighbours and brethren For if a man doe not sift his soule and distouer his owne corruption selfe loue and pride brâ—â— in mans nature euer since Adams fall will make him to ouer-weene himselfe and vnder-value others And this is the chiefe reason why men are so fauourable in their owne causes and so peremptory in other mens But if men by sifting their soules haue discouered their sinnes the sense of their owne wants will make them more pittifull towards others as St. Paul implyeth when hee exhorteth men to meekenes towards other men from this consideration because (a) Tit. 3.2 3. themselues were sometimes vnwise disobedient c. And from this (b) Gal. 6.1 Lest themselues also be tempted And where St. Paul saith of himselfe (c) 1 Tim. 1.15 that hee was chiefe of sinners S. Bernard noteth (d) Neque buc dicebat Paulus meÌ„tiendi praecipitatiaâ—e sed aestimandi affectione Qui enim persectè exammando seipsuÌ„ intelligit suo peccato nullius peccatum par esse existimaâ— quod non sicut suum intelligit Bern. de vita solitar ad fratres de Monte Dei pag. 1020. I. that he spake this not falsely out of rashnesse and temerity but feelingly and out of the sense and esteeme that hee had of his sinnes For he that by examining himselfe doth throughly vnderstand himselfe thinketh no mans sinne to bee equall to his owne which hee knoweth not so well as his owne And therefore if men would carefully performe this worke in examining themselues they would not rashly condemne others without cause IIII. * ExaminatioÌ„ comforteth against despaire This daily reckoning with our selues will be a meanes to strengthen vs against despaire and to comfort vs in a time of tentation and feare For if the Deuill shall present our sinnes before our face and aggrauate them that he may driue vs to despaire then our former practice of this dutie will be a help to support vs two waies 1. Because by often reckoning with our soules we haue gotten the true knowledge of our states we haue found out our sins both which they be and of what quality they are and therefore wee shall not so easily bee deceiued by Satan if hee presse them beyond their pitch and aggrauate them beyond their condition as in times of distresse he vsually doth 2. Because by this daily reckoning and iudgeing of our selues we haue made all euen between God and our soules For hauing confessed our sinnes and censured our selues and fled to God for forgiuenesse we haue his promise of remission and pardon And then whatsoeuer our sinnes be as certainely they are both the fewer and the lesser for the performance of this worke but whatsoeuer they be we know they cannot hurt vs because God hath forgiuen them And these things will be vnto vs matter of great comfort in a time of conflict and distresse at which time a little peace of conscience will bee worth all the world For whereas men that haue liued securely without casting vp of their accounts are in times of tentation ouerwhelmed with horrour being neither able to giue comfort to themselues nor to receiue it from others hee that hath vsed a daily reckoning with his soule will bee moued at the sight of his sinnes rather to blesse God for his mercy because he hath pardoned them than to despaire of his mercy for feare that he will not pardon them V. Fiftly and lastly Examination is a meanes to preuent Gods Iudgement our iudging of our selues in this sort will be a meanes to preuent Gods heauier Iudgement afterward For God will haue our sinnes to be discouered one way or other and will haue vs to be conuicted and iudged for them and if our selues doe (a) Prou. 28.13 Psal 32.5 1 Cor. 11.31 1 Ioh. 1.9 bolte them out and produce them he will couer them and if we accuse and condemne our selues he will absolue and acquit vs and if wee punish our offences he will forgiue them Whereupon St. Chrysostom concludeth that (a) Lectum atque quietem petiturus hoc iudiciuÌ„ ineas idoneum enim ad hanc reÌ„ hoc teÌ„pus est c. Id si quotidie diligenter facies terribili futuri Iuditis Tribunali laetus assistes Chysost Hom. 43. in Matth. pag. 398. B. if a man doe diligently euery day perfor me this worke of examination he may stand with comfort before the dreadfull Barre of the great Iudge But if we neglect this dutie or slubber it ouer without care he will take it into his own hands and will performe it to the purpose hee (b) Zeph. 1.12 will search Ierusalem with candles and hee (c) Psal 50.21 will reproue the vngodly and set his sinnes in order before his eyes and hee will (d) Eccles. 12. vlt. bring euery worke into Iudgement whether it bee good or euill and nothing shall goe for nought that hath beene done against his Law For aut homine puniente aut Deo iudicante plectentur they must bee punished either by our owne censure or by the sentence of God who is the great Iudge of all the world And in this sort our reckoning with our selues will preuent Gods iudging of vs at the last day These and such like be the benefits which wee may reape by this exercise Out of the consideration of all which I thinke I may iustly apply to this worke of Examination that which Moses spake of Gods Word deliuered to the Israelites (e) Deut. 32.47 It is no vaine thing concerning vs because it is our life and through this thing wee may prolong our daies in a blessed and happy state for euermore And this bare consideration is argument enough both to commend the necessity of the worke and to command our diligence and care for the practice of it But yet to set a little more edge vpon our affections we may hence deduce three considerations applicable to our practice and state of life 1. Wee may hereeby see what the cause is why most of vs notwithstanding our hearing and reading and praying and communicating yet do rather decay than thriue in grace For though I will not deny but this defect may be ascribed to some other causes also yet seeing Examination is so vsefull for repentance and so powerfull for amendment and reformation the neglect of this must needes breed a great defect of grace euen as the absence of the sunne which is the fountaine of heate maketh way for frost and snow in the world Nor is it any maruell that negligence in accounting