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A46895
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The booke of conscience opened and read in a sermon preached at the Spittle on Easter-Tuesday, being April 12, 1642 / by John Jackson.
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Jackson, John.
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1642
(1642)
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Wing J76; ESTC R36019
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31,589
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156
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THE BOOKE OF CONSCIENCE opened and read In a Sermon preached at the Spittle on Easter-Tuesday being April 12. 1642. By JOHN JACKSON LONDON Printed by F. K. for R. M. and are to be sold by Daniel Milbourne at the New Exchange and at the holy Lambe in little Britaine 1642. TO THE RIGHT Honourable Sr RICHARD GURNY Knight and Baronet Lord Major of the City of London together with the Right Worshipfull the Sheriffes and Aldermen of the same City The continuall feast of a good Conscience be ever multiplyed SIRS MAy it please you The Scottish King being imprisoned in Mortimers hole comforted himself and deceived the sorrowes of his bondage by scraping the Story of Christ crucified upon the wals with his nailes Even so God writeth the lawes and dictates of Conscience upon a wall the wall of Conscience Murus aheneus so as all the rules of Divinity of nature of nations and of positive lawes as they relate to Conscience are like the hand-writing Dan. 5. herbae Parietariae wall-flowers And they are written and sculptured with a naile too but a more stiffe and potent naile then that of the Scottish King Judge not ex ungue c. but by a retrograde crisis judge the naile by the finger which is expresly called digitus Dei Exod. 31. 18. and what can the naile of such a finger be but unguis adamantinus as it is adjuncted Jer. 17. 1 and need it hath to be no lesse unlesse the pen be more soft then the paper for if our hearts be hearts of adamant Zech. 7. 12. then the stile that writes characters upon them had need be a pen of iron and the naile of an Adamant I present here your Worthinesses with a booke a booke as St Bernard ingeniously for the rectifying whereof all other bookes are written I except not the very Booke of bookes it self For there are foure Bookes written by God for the sons of men which are thus to be classed and ordered They are either the Bookes of Grace or of Nature The Bookes of Grace are either outwarâ— or inward The outward Booke of Grace is the holy Bible The inward Book of Grace is the holy Spirit the great Doctor of the Church The outward booke of nature is the world or book of the Creatures which is God unfolded The inward Booke of nature is this very booke whose seales I have in the ensuing Traâ—â—aâ—e broke open the Book of Conscience so called Apoc. 20. 12. That which one likes another will dislike some have been such grosse flatterers as to commend Nero and some againe such detractors as to dispraise Trajan one mans pottage will be anothers coloquintida the same son was Rachels Ben-oni Jacob's Benjamin The same in scription on the plaister which made Belshazzar quiver for feare made Darius his successor quavâ—r for joy The very same facultie of Conscience which entertaines and feasts one starves or choakes another And the Commentary must not looke for a better lot then the Text nor the Sermon then the Theame I know too well the wayes of this towne to expect other but for the publishing hereof I have this excuse which must prevaile with an ingenuous nature that I have beene mastered by entreaties thereunto so as if there be any errour in that regard their burthen must be my case Now I pray God keep your Honour and Worships in grace unto glory and that as the best meanes conducing to that end you here exercise your selves to keep a good Conscience in all things both towards God and towards man Your Hon. and Wor. humble and faithfull Servant in the things of God and Christ JOHN JACKSON The readings of the Text of Prov. 15. ver. 15. Hebr. {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Graec. {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Sept. {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Symmacâ— Lat. Secura mens quasi juge convivium Vulg. Cujus bilaris est animus convivium est continuum Transl. Chald. Paraphr Cor bonum quasi juge covivium Munst. Secura mens hoc est bona conscientia c. Stephanus Jucundus corde convivio jugi Vataâ—â— Jociâ—dus corde c. Pagniu Laeta mens perpetuum 〈◊〉 Câ—stalio c. Angl. A good Conscience is a continuall feast He that is of a merry heaâ—t hath a continuall feast THE BOOKE OF CONSCIENCE opened and read Tho Text PROV. 15. 15. A good Conscience is a continuall feast THe reading of this Text must first be set straight ere any progresse can be made lest we seeme to make a Sermon upon a text which will not beare the burden of the discourse It was read long in our English Bibles thus A good conscience is a continuall feast till King James of blessed memory as another Ptolomy Philadelphus assembled together above 40. rare Linguists and Divines to perfect us a new translation where it is read thus He that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast Which reading is subordinate to the former for there can be no sincere or lasting mirth of heart but such as proceeds from and is superstructed upon the foundation of a good conscience Besides if we will drinke water out of the fount it is in the Hebrew neither a merry heart nor a good conscience a but a good heart is a continuall feast nor can it otherwise be because there is no peculiar word in the Hebrew tongue to denote this particular facultie of soule which we call Conscience but the generall word b HEART And even in the now Testament where there are proper words for it yet the generall word HEART is used 1 John Epist. chap. 3. and 20. c If our heart condemne us c. there HEART stands for CONSCIENCE for we know it to be the proper effect of conscience to condemne or absolve which of it selfe seems to determine that Conscience is not a peculiar and distinct faculty of the soul as understanding will memory c. are but the soul reflecting and recoyling upon it self Which being prefaced we may safely read it as you have heard A good Conscience is a continuall feast Wherein every word doth fitly constitute a part for first here is the subject Conscience Secondly and adjunct of excellencie joyned unto it Good Thirdly the praedicate A Feast Lastly an adjunct of perpetuity joyned to that Continuall And in the orderly pursuance of these foure parts there will fall out to be handled foure points of very high and necessary concernment in the life and conversation of every Christian namely First this That every man hath a certaine Genius associated to his soul to wit Conscience Secondly this That by the grace of conversion there is a divine quality stamped and imprinted upon the naturall Conscience which is Goodnesse Thirdly this That Conscience thus qualified with goodnesse is a Feast Lastly this That this feast of a good Conscience is not onely for a time but for eternity not only a long but a