And Conscience under one notion or other sustains all parts in this Tryal The Court is call'd the Court of a man's Conscience and the Barr at which the Sinner stands impleaded is call'd the Barr of Conscience Conscience also is the Accuser and it is the Record and Register of our Crimes in which the memory of them is preserv'd And it is the Witness which gives testimony for or against us hence are those expressions of the testimony of our Consciences and that a man 's own Conscience is to him instead of a thousand Witnesses And it is likewise the Judge which declares the Law and what we ought or ought not to have done in such or such a Case and accordingly passeth Sentence upon us by acquitting or condemning us Thus according to common use of Speech Conscience sustains all imaginable parts in this Spiritual Court It is the Court and the Bench and the Barr the Accuser and Witness and Register and all But I shall onely at present consider Conscience in the most common and famous notion of it as it is the Principle or Faculty whereby we judge of moral Good and Evil and do accordingly direct and govern our actions So that in short Conscience is nothing else but the Judgment of a man 's own mind concerning the morality of his actions that is the Good or Evil or Indifferency of them telling us what things are commanded by God and consequently are our Duty what things are forbidden by Him and consequently are sinful what things are neither commanded nor forbidden and consequently are indifferent I proceed in the Vth place to give some Rules and directions for the keeping of a Conscience void of offence And they shall be these following First Never in any case to act contrary to the persuasion and conviction of our Conscience For that certainly is a great Sin and that which properly offends the Conscience and renders us guilty guilt being nothing else but trouble arising in our minds from a consciousness of having done contrary to what we are verily perswaded was our duty And though perhaps this persuasion is not always well grounded yet the guilt is the same so long as this persuasion continues because every man's Conscience is a kind of God to him and accuseth or absolves him according to the present persuasion of it And therefore we ought to take great care not to offend against the light and conviction of our own mind Secondly We should be very careful to inform our Consciences aright that we may not mistake concerning our duty or if we do that our errour and mistake may not be grosly wilful and faulty And this Rule is the more necessary to be consider'd and regarded by us because generally men are apt to think it a sufficient excuse for any thing that they did it according to their Conscience But this will appear to be a dangerous mistake and of very pernicious consequence to the Souls of men if we consider these two things 1st That men may be guilty of the most heinous Sins in following an erroneous Conscience 2ly And these Sins may prove damnable without a particular repentance for them 1st That men may be guilty of the most heinous Sins in following an erroneous Conscience Men may neglect and abuse themselves so far as to do some of the worst and wickedest things in the world with a persuasion that they do well Our Saviour tells his Disciples that the time should come when the Jews should put them to death Joh. 16.2 thinking they did God good service Nay the Jews murdered the Son of God himself through ignorance and a false perswasion of mind Father forgive them says our Blessed Lord when he was breathing out his Soul upon the Cross Luk. 23.34 for they know not what they do And St. Peter after he had charged the Jews with killing the Prince of Life Acts 3.17 he presently adds I wote that through ignorance ye did it as did also your Rulers And St. Paul in mitigation of that great Crime says Had they known they would not have crucified the Lord of life and glory And concerning himself he tells us Acts 26.9 That he verily thought with himself that he ought to do many things against the Name of Jesus of Nazareth And yet notwithstanding that he acted herein according to the persuasion of his Conscience he tells us that he had been a blasphemer and a persecutour and injurious and a murderer and in a word the greatest of Sinners So that Men may be guilty of the greatest Sins in following an erroneous Conscience And 2ly These Sins may prove damnable without a particular repentance for them Where the ignorance and mistake is not grosly wilful there God will accept of a general repentance but where it is grosly wilful great Sins committed upon it are not pardon'd without a particular Repentance for them And an errour which proceeds from want of ordinary human care and due government of a man's self is in a great degree wilful As when it proceeds from an unreasonable and obstinate prejudice from great pride and self-conceit and contempt of counsel and instruction or from a visible byass of self-interest or when it is accompanied with a furious passion and zeal prompting men to cruel and horrible things contrary to the light of nature and the common sense of humanity Anerrour proceeding from such causes and producing such effects is wilful in so high a degree that whatever evil is done in vertue of it is almost equally faulty with a direct and wilful violation of the Law of God The ignorance and mistake doth indeed make the person so mistaken more capable of forgiveness which is the ground of our Saviour's Prayer for his Murtherers Father forgive them for they know what they do St. Paul likewise tells us that he found mercy upon this account Nevertheless says he I obtained mercy 1 Tim. 1.13 because I did it ignorantly and in unbelief that is through a false persuasion of mind not believing it to be a Sin And yet he did not obtain this mercy without a particular conviction of his fault and repentance for it And St. Peter after he had convinced the Jews of their great Sin in crucifying Christ though they did it ignorantly yet he exhorts them to a particular and deep repentance for it as necessary to the pardon and forgiveness of it And therefore after he had said I wote that through ignorance ye did it as did also your Rulers Act 3.19 he immediately adds Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out So that it highly concerns men to consider what opinions they embrace in order to practise and not to suffer themselves to be hurried away by an unreasonable prejudice and a heady passion without a due and calm examination of things nor to be overborn by pride or humour or partiality or interest or by a furious and extravagant zeal
in that particular and from that time to break off that Sin which we have then repented of and have ask'd forgiveness of God for For if after we have repented of it we return to it again we wound our Conscience afresh and involve them in a new guilt In the last place We should reverence our Consciences and stand in awe of them and have a great regard to their testimony and verdict For Conscience is a domestick Judge and a kind of familiar God And therefore next to the Supreme Majesty of Heaven and Earth every man should be afraid to offend his own Reason and Conscience which whenever we knowingly do amiss will beat us with many stripes and handle us more severely than the greatest Enemy we have in the World So that next to the dreadful sentence of the great Day every man hath reason to dread the sentence of his own Conscience God indeed is greater than our hearts and knows all things but under Him we have the greatest reason to fear the judgment of our own Consciences For nothing but that can give us Comfort and nothing can create so much trouble and disquiet to us And though the judgment of our Consciences be not alwayes the judgment of God yet we have great reason to have great regard to it and that upon several accounts which I shall but briefly mention and so conclude First Because the judgment of out Conscience is free from any compulsion No body can force it from us whether we will or no and make us to pass sentence against our selves whether we see reason for it or not Secondly The sentence of our own Consciences is very likely to be impartial at lest not too hard on the severe side because men naturally love themselves and are too apt to be favourable in their own case All the World cannot bribe a man against himself There is no man whose mind is not either distemper'd by melancholy or deluded by false Principles that is apt to be credulous against himself and his own interest and peace Thirdly The judgment which our Conscience passeth upon our own actions is upon the most intimate and certain knowledge of them and of their true motives and ends We may easily be deceiv'd in our judgment of the actions of other men and may think them to be much better or worse than in truth they are Because we cannot certainly tell with what mind they were done and what circumstances there may be to excuse or aggravate them how strong the temptation was or how weak the judgment of him that was seduc'd by it into errour and folly But we are conscious to all the secret springs and motives and circumstances of our own actions We can descend into our own hearts and dive to the bottom of them and search into the most retired corners of our intentions and ends which none besides our selves but only God can do for excepting Him only none knows the things of a man but the Spirit of a man which is in him Fourthly The Sentence of our Conscience is peremptory and inexorable and there is no way to avoid it Thou mayest possibly flie from the wrath of other men to the uttermost parts of the Earth but thou canst not stir one step from thy self In vain shalt thou call upon the mountains and rocks to fall on thee and hide thee from the sight of thine own Conscience Wretched and miserable man when thou hast offended and wounded thy Conscience For whether canst thou go to escape the eye of this Witness the terrour of this Judge the torment of this Executioner A man may as soon get rid of himself and quit his own being as fly from the sharp accusations and stinging guilt of his own Conscience which will perpetually haunt him till it be done away by repentance and forgiveness We account it a fearful thing to be haunted by evil spirits and yet the spirit of a man which is in him throughly affrighted with its own guilt may be a more ghastly and amazing Spectacle than all the Devils in Hell There is no such frightful Apparition in the World as a mans own guilty and terrified Conscience staring him in the face A spirit that is thus wounded who can bear To conclude Let these confederations prevail with us alwayes to live not with regard to the opinion of others which may be grounded upon mistake or may not indeed be their opinion but their flattery but with regard to the judgment of our own Conscience which though it may sometimes be mistaken can never be brib'd and corrupted We may be hypocrites to others and base flatterers but our Consciences whenever they are throughly awaken'd are alwayes sincere and deal truly with us and speak to us as they think Therefore whatever we say or do let it be sincere For though hypocrisie may for a while preserve our esteem and reputation with others yet it can signifie nothing to the peace of our own minds And then what will it avail us to conceal any thing from other men when we can hide nothing that we say or do from our own Consciences The summe of all is this If we would keep a Conscience void of offence let us alwayes be calme and considerate and have the patience to examine things throughly and impartially Let us be humble and willing to learn and never too proud and stiff to be better inform'd Let us do what we can to free our selves from prejudice and passion from self-conceit and self-interest which are often too strong a byass upon the judgments of the best men as we may see every day in very sad and melancholy instances And having taken all due care to inform our Consciences aright let us follow the judgment of our minds in what we do and then we have done what we can to please God And if we would alwayes take this care to keep a good Conscience we should alwayes be easie and good company to our selves But if we offend our Consciences by doing contrary to the clear dictate and conviction of them we make the unhappyest breach in the World we stir up a quarrel in our own breasts and arm our own minds against our selves we create an enemy to our selves in our own bosoms and fall but with the best and most inseparable Companion of our lives And on the contrary a good Conscience will be a continual Feast and will give us that comfort and courage in an evil day which nothing else can And then whatever happen to us we may commit our souls to God in well-doing as into the hands of a faithful Creatour To whom with our Blessed Saviour and Redeemer and the Holy Ghost the Comforter be all honour and glory now and ever Amen FINIS
A SERMON Preached before the QUEEN AT White-Hall February the 27th 1690 1. By JOHN TILLOTSON D. D. Dean of St. PAVL's And Clerk of the Closet to His Majesty Published by Her Maiesty's Special Command LONDON Printed for Brabazon Aylmer at the Three Pidgeons over-against the Royal Exchange and William Rogers at the Sun over-against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet MDCXCI A SERMON Preached before the QUEEN ACTS xxiv 16. And herein do I exercise my self to have always a conscience void of offence towards God and towards men THese words are part of the Defense which St. Paul made for himself before Faelix the Roman Governour In which he first of all vindicates himself from the charge of Sedition ver 12 They neither found me in the Temple disputing with any man neither raising up the People neither in the Synagogue nor in the City that is they could not charge him with making any disturbance either in Church or State After this he makes a free and open profession of his Religion ver 14. But this I confess that after the way which they call Heresie so worship I the God of my Fathers believing all things which are written in the Law and the Prophets Here he declares the Scriptures to be the Rule of his Faith in opposition to the Oral Tradition of the Pharisees More particularly he asserts the Doctrine of the Resurrection which was a principal Article both of the Jewish and the Christian Religion ver 15 And I have hope also towards God that there shall be a Resurrection both of the just and the unjust And having made this declaration of his Faith he gives an account of his Life in the words of the Text ver 16 And herein do I exercise my self to have always a conscience void of offence towards God and towards men Herein 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is in this work do I employ myself or as others render it in the mean time whilst I am in this World or as others I think most probably for this cause and reason 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for this reason because I believe a Resurrection therefore have I a conscientious care of my life and all the actions of it The Discourse I intend to make upon these words shall be comprized in these following Particulars I. Here is the extent of a good man's pious practise to have a conscience void of offence towards God and towards men II. Here is his constancy and perseverance in this course to have allways a conscience void of offence III. Here is his earnest care and endeavour to this purpose I exercise my self IV. Here is the Principle and immediate Guide of his actions which St. Paul here tells us was his Conscience V. I shall lay down some Rules and directions for the keeping of a good Conscience VI. Here is the great motive and encouragement to this which St. Paul tells us was the belief of a Resurrection and of a future State of Rewards and Punishments consequent upon it for this cause because I hope for a Resurrection both of the just and unjust I exercise my self to have always a conscience void of offence towards God and towards men I shall speak but briefly to the three first of these Particulars that I may be larger in the rest I. Here is the extent of a good man's pious practice It hath regard to the whole compass of his Duty as it respects God and Man I exercise my self says St. Paul to have a conscience void of offence towards God and towards men And this distribution of our Duty under these two general heads is very frequent in Scripture The Decalogue refers our Duty to these two heads And accordingly our Saviour comprehends the whole Duty of Man in those two great Commandments the love of God and of our Neighbour Matth. 22.38 Vpon these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets that is all the Moral Precepts which are dispers'd up and down in the Law and the Prophets may be referr'd to these two general Heads II. Here is his constancy and perseverance in this course St. Paul says that he exercised himself to have always a conscience void of offence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 continually at all times in the whole course of his life We must not only make conscience of our ways by fits and starts but in the general course and tenour of our lives and actions without any baulks and intermissions There are some that will refrain from grosser Sins and be very strict at some Seasons as during the Time of a Solemn Repentance and for some days before they receive the Sacrament and perhaps for a little while after it And when these devout Seasons are over they let themselves loose again to their former lewd and vitious course But Religion should be a constant frame and temper of mind discovering it self in the habitual course of our lives and actions III. Here is likewise a very earnest care and endeavour to this purpose Herein do I exercise my self says St. Paul The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is here render'd exercise is a word of a very intense signification and does denote that St. Paul applied himself to this business with all his care and might and that he made it his earnest study and endeavour And so must we we must take great care to understand our duty and to be rightly informed concerning good and evil that we may not mistake the nature of things and call good evil and evil good We must apply our minds in good earnest to be thoroughly instructed in all the parts of our Duty that so we may not be at a loss what to do when we are call'd to the practise of it And when we know our Duty we must be true and honest to our selves and very careful and conscientious in the discharge and performance of it I proceed in the IVth place to consider the Principle and immediate Guide of our actions which St. Paul here tells us was his Conscience I exercise my self to have always a Conscience void of offence By which he does not only mean a resolution to follow the dictate and direction of his Conscience but likewise a due care to inform his Conscience aright that he might not in any thing transgress the Law of God and his Duty Conscience is the great Principle of moral actions and our Guide in matter of Sin and Duty It is not the Law and Rule of our actions that the Law of God only is but it is our immediate Guide and directour telling us what is the Law of God and our Duty But because Conscience is a word of a very large and various signification I shall endeavour very briefly to give you the true notion of it Now in common speech concerning Conscience every man is represented as having a kind of Court and Tribunal in his own brest where he tries himself and all his actions
Because proportionally to the voluntariness of our Errour will be the guilt of our practice pursuant to that Errour Indeed where our Errour is involuntary and morally invincible God will consider it and make allowance for it but where it is voluntary and occasioned by our own gross fault and neglect we are bound to consider and to rectifie our mistake For whatever we do contrary to the Law of God and our duty in vertue of that false persuasion we do it at our utmost peril and must be answerable to God for it notwithstanding we did it according to the dictate of our Conscience A Third Rule is this That in all doubts of Conscience we endeavour to be equal and impartial and do not lay all the weight of our doubts on one side when there is perhaps as much or greater reason of doubting on the other And consequently that we be as tractable and easie to receive satisfaction of our doubts in one kind as in another and be equally contented to have them over-ruled in cases that are equal I mean where our passions and interests are not concern'd as well as where they are And if we do not do this it is a sign that we are partial in our pretences of Conscience and that we do not aim meerly at the peace and satisfaction of our own minds but have some other interest and design For it is a very suspicious thing when mens doubts and scruples bear all on one side especially if it be on that side which is against charity and peace and obedience to Government whether Ecclesiastical or Civil In this case I think that a meer doubt and much more a scruple may nay ought in reason to be over-ruled by the command of Authority by the opinion and judgment of wise and good men and in consideration of the publique peace and of the unity and edification of the Church Not that a man is in any case to go against the clear persuasion and conviction of his own mind but when there is only a meer doubt concerning the lawfulness or unlawfulness of a thing it seems to me in that case very reasonable that a man should suffer a mere doubt or scruple to be over-rul'd by any of those weighty considerations which I mentioned before The Fourth Rule is That all pretences of Conscience are vehemently to be suspecled which are accompanied with turbulent passion and a furious zeal It is an hundred to one but such a man's Conscience is in the wrong It is an excellent saying of St. James Jam. 1.20 The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God that is the fierce passions of men are no proper instruments to promote Religion and to accomplish any thing that is good And therefore if any man be transported with a wild zeal and pretend conscience for his fury it is great odds but he is in an errour None are so likely to judge amiss as they whose minds are clouded and blinded by their passions Nubila mens est Boeth Haec ubi regnant And if men would carefully observe themselves they might almost certainly know when they act upon Reason and a true principle of Conscience A good Conscience is easie to it self and pleased with its own doings but when a man's passion and discontent are a weight upon his judgment and do as it were bear down his Conscience to a compliance no wonder if this puts a man's mind into a very unnatural and uneasie state There can hardly be a broader sign that a man is in the wrong than to rage and be confident Because this plainly shews that the man's Conscience is not setled upon clear reason but that he hath brought over his Conscience to his interest or to his humour and discontent And though such a man may be so far blinded by his passion as not to see what is right yet methinks he should feel himself to be in the wrong by his being so very hot and impatient Art thou sure thou art in the right thou art a happy man and hast reason to be pleased What cause then what need is there of being angry Hath a man Reason on his side What would he have more Why then does he fly out into Passion which as it gives no strength to a bad Argument so I could never yet see that it was any grace and advantage to a good one Of the great evil and the perpetual mistake of this furious kind of Zeal the Jews are a lively and a lamentable Example in their carriage towards our Blessed Saviour and his Apostles And more particularly St. Paul when he persecuted the Christians from a false and erroneous persuasion of his Conscience Hear how St Paul describes himself and his own doings whilst he was acted by an erroneous Conscience Acts 22.4 I persecuted says he this way unto the death binding and delivering into prison both men and women And in another Chapter I verily thought with my self Acts 26.9 that I ought to do many things against the Name of Jesus of Nazareth Here was his erroneous Conscience Let us next see what were the unhappy concomitants and effects of it ver 10 11 Which things says he I also did in Jerusalem and many of the Saints I shut up in prison and when they were put to death I gave my voice against them and punish'd them oft in every Synagogue and compell'd them to blaspheme and being exceedingly mad against them I persecuted them even to strange Cities When Conscience transports men with such a furious zeal and passion it is hardly ever in the right or if it should happen to be so they who are thus transported by their ungracious way of maintaining the truth and their ill management of a good cause have found out a cunning way to be in the wrong even when they are in the right Fifthly all pretences of Conscience are likewise to be suspected which are not accompanyed with modesty and humility and a teachable temper and disposition willing to learn and to be better inform'd A proud and conceited temper of mind is very likely to run into mistakes because pride and fullness of a mans self does keep out knowledge and obstructs all the passages by which wisdom and instruction should enter into men Besides that it provokes God to abandon men to their own follies and mistakes for God resisteth the proud but the meek will he guide in judgment and will give more grace and wisdom to the humble When men are once come to this to think themselves wiser than their Teachers and to despise and cast off their Guides no wonder if then they go astray Lastly Let us be sure to mind that which is our plain and unquestionable duty the great things of Religion wherein the life and substance of it doth consist and the things likewise which make for peace and whereby we may edify one another And let us not suffer our disputes about lesser matters to prejudice
before God as to the perfect innocency of his life in which sense St. Paul says 1 Cor. 4.4 that though he knew nothing by himself yet was he not thereby justified I say though no man can plead perfect innocency yet as to the general course and tenour of an unblameable life a good man may appeal to God and even when he afflicts him may look upon Him as a tender and compassionate Father and not as an angry and revengeful Judge With this holy and patient Job under all those terrible disasters and calamities which befell him was able in some measure to comfort himself After he had lost all and he had a great deal to lose when he was forsaken of all other comfort even the charitable opinion of his best Friends concerning his sincerity In these sad and disconsolate circumstances what was it that bore up his spirit nothing but the conscience of his own integrity See with what resolution and constancy of mind he asserts and maintains it Job 25.5 6. I will not sayes he remove mine integrity from me my righteousness will I hold fast and will not let it go mine heart shall not reproach me so long 〈◊〉 as I live You see that when every thing else mas gone his integrity stuck by him and supported him to the last And as to persecutions and sufferings from men our own innocency and the goodness of our Cause will be our best comfort under them When we are not guilty to our selves that we have deserv'd them from men and are inwardly assur'd that whatever we patiently suffer for God and a good conscience will all turn to our account another Day and work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory This was that which supported the first Christians that noble Army of Martyrs under all those bitter and cruel persecutions which had otherwise been beyond all human patience to have endur'd This comforted them in all their tribulations Our rejoycing says St. Paul is this the testimony of our consciences that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our conversation in the world So likewise under that inferiour but equally malicious sort of persecution of which this Age is so very profuse and prodigal I mean the causeless calumnies and reproaches of men If under these we can but approve our Consciences to God the uncharitable Censures of men are not so much to be regarded by us some impression they will make upon a tender mind but we must not if we can help it let them sink too deep into our spirits 1 Joh. 3.21 If our hearts condemn us not we may have confidence towards God and then surely much more towards men If God and our own Consciences do but acquit us methinks it should be no such difficult matter to bear the slanders and hard censures of men But above all other times the comfort of a good Conscience is most sensible and most considerable at the hour of Death For as nothing dejects a mans spirit more and sends him down with so much sorrow to the grave as the guilt of an evil Conscience what terrour and anguish what rage and despair do seize upon a Sinner at that time when he reflects upon what he hath done and considers what he is like to suffer So on the other hand there is nothing that revives and raises the fainting spirits of a dying man like the Conscience of a holy and useful life which hath brought glory to God Prov. 14.32 and good to men The wicked says Solomon is driven away in his wickedness that is he is carried out of the World as it were in a storm and tempest But the righteous hath hope in his death he usually dies calmly and comfortably Mark the perfect man Psal 37.37 says David and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace If a man be conscious to himself that he hath sincerely endeavour'd to keep the commandments of God and to do the things which please Him if he hath lived inoffensively and as St. Paul Acts 23.1 says of himself in all good conscience before God and men what an unspeakable consolation must it be to him in that dark and gloomy time and when he is walking through the valley of the shadow of death then to fear no evil and to be able with our Blessed Saviour to say though in a much inferiour measure and degree John 17.4 Father I have glorified thee on the earth I have finished the work which thou hast given me to do And to be able to look Death in the face with the like courage and constancy of mind as St. Paul did when he saw it approaching towards wards him I am now says he 2 Tim. 4.6 7 8 ready to be of fer'd and the time of my departure is at hand I have fought a good fight I have finish'd my race I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give me at that day A comfortable Death that is free from the stings and upbraidings the terrors and tortures the confusion and amazement of a guilty Conscience is a happiness so desireable as to be well worth the best care and endeavour of a mans whole life Let us then have a conscientious regard to the whole compass of our Duty and with St. Paul Let us exercise to have alwayes a Conscience void of offence towards God and towards men And let us never do any thing whereby we shall offer violence to the light of our minds God hath given us this Principle to be our constant guide and companion and whoever after due care to informe himself aright does sincerely follow the dictate and direction of this Guide shall never fatally miscarry But whoever goes against the clear dictate and conviction of his Conscience in so doing he undermines the foundation of his own comfort and peace and sins against God and his own Soul And to the end we may keep our Consciences clear of guilt we should frequently examine our selves and look back upon the actions of our lives and call our selves to a strict account for them that wherein-soever we have fail'd of innocency we may make it up by repentance and may get our Consciences clear'd of guilt by pardon and forgiveness And if we do not do this we cannot with confidence rely upon the testimony of our Consciences because many great Sins may slip out of our memories without a particular repentance for them which yet do require and stand in need of a particular repentance Especially we should search our Consciences more narrowly at these more solemn Times of repentance and when we are preparing our selves to receive the Holy Sacrament And if at these Times our hearts do accuse and condemn us for any thing we should not only heartily lament and bewail it before God but sincerely resolve by Gods grace to reform