that most righteous iudgment a patterne most fit for imitation and most profitable to bee remembred to keepe vs iust and right in all our actions The Bookes were opened Explication Almighty God in Scripture is said to haue Books not properly but per 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by that vsuall metaphor in which the Scripture speakes to mens capacity that men might vnderstand the will of God so in the former and so in this part of the Vision for God needs not bookes to register mens names or actions hee is infinite in knowledge and of endlesse memory knowne vnto God are all his workes and so all both words and workes of men from the foundation of the world Acts 15.18 But thus the Vision was to shew by this the matter that shall then bee put in execution the bookes shall then bee â—pened â—hat is euery man and euery worke shall then be tryed and as euidence is giuen and actions found so shall the sentence he pronounced Diuision of the Text. There are diuers kinds of Bookes in Scripture mentioned some giuen to God and some to man I onely cast my eies vpon my Text. And to let passe variety of opinions and iudgments of Diuines about these bookes I finde as most accord these bookes are three Perkinsius in symbol Seb. Meyâ—r in Apocalyp Inchino de nouissim The first is Liber praescientiae the Booke of Gods eternall prescience or fore-knowledge The second Liber conscientiae the booke of euery mans particular conscience Both these are vnderstood and not expressed but of these Diuines expound those former words The bookes were opened The third and last is Liber vitae the booke of life and this is named in the words that follow And another booke was opened which is the Booke of life The Booke of Gods prescience opened Of these in order by assistance of Gods gracious Spirit your Christian patience and the times permission And first of the first of these most secret Bookes The booke of Gods eternall prescience and foreknowledge This shall be opened at that great Assises For as the Lord is a God of knowledge 1. Sam. 2.3 knowing euery word in our tongues as Dauid speakes Psal 139.6 hauing all things written before-hand in his Booke ver 16. And discerning the hearts of the Children of men Prou. 15.11 So will hee manifest this knowledge at that day of iudgment Mat. 10.26 There is nothing hid that shall not be reuealed there is nothing secret shall not be brought to light Luc. 12.2 God will bring euery work vnto iudgment with euery secret thing whether it be good or euill 2 Cor. 5.10 Eccles 12.14 Iudg nothing before the time saith S. Paul vntill the Lord come who will bring to light the hidden things of darkenesse and make manifest the counsels oâ— the heart 1 Cor. 4. 5. Aderit dies illa in qua omnia facta hominis quasi in quadam tabula picta demonstrabuntur S. Hieronym Epistol ad Occanum Basil Tract de virginitat as S. Hierom speakes That day shall come in which all the deeds of men shall bee made plaine as it were in painted tables Yea not onely the actions but the way and meanes which euery one hath vsed in committing wickednesse as S. Basil testifieth to whom S. Chrysostome S. Chrysost hom 5. in epist ad Roman Simil. 1. and diuers other of the ancient Fathers agree But how shall this bee may some man demand I answer Euen as in euery house or chamber the ayre is full of sands or moats which cannot be discerned vntill the Sunne beames make the ayre seeme light and then these Atomi these moats are seene in great abundance Euen so those secret sinnes which now lye hidden within the chambers of mens hearts when as the Sunne of righteousnesse shall lighten euery corner shall then be manifest vnto the eies of all Simil. 2 Or as in winter when the earth is couered with the snow the fowlest bogs and most vnwholsome places seeme faire and white as doe the best but when the Sunne once comes and melts the snow then is the difference seene and that place presently auoided which before at vnawares a man with danger of his life might soone haue fallen into So when the heauens shall bee on fire and the elements shall melt with feruent heat and Christ the Iudge of all dissolue the Snow that is vnmaske the fowlest face of Diabolicall hypocrisie then shall the vgly countenance of sinne be shewne and those polluted soules which like deformed bodies couered with gay apparell haue walked in silken roabes of seeming righteousnesse stand naked vnto all beholders abhorred of God and men and Angels for their blacke impieties Vse Tremble then yee Hypocrites who make the world beleeue yee are holy iust and good while horrid wickednesse is guilded ouer with colours of deceit who thinke to cozen God with faire pretences as yee can doe men But yee are deceiued God knoweth your secrets now and then shall make them manifest vnto the world Then is a time of tryall when the siluer shall be seuered from the drosse and the wheat winnowed from the chaffe for his fanne is in his hand and hee will throughly purge his floore and gather his wheat into his Garner but burne vp the chaffe with vnquenchable fire Mat. 3.12 Hierusalem shall then be searched and that with lanthorne and candle-light Zephan 1. that is Zephan 1.12 Bern Serm 55. in Cantic the Saints themselues shall be enquired into as S. Bernard interprets it And Quid tutum in Babylone si HierusaleÌ„ manet scrutinium saith the same Father What shall become of Babylon the prophane and wicked world if Hierusalem the holy City shall be scanned Quid facient tabulae quando tremunt columnae as speakes S. Gregory What shall the slender Tables doe when the Pillers of the house doe quake and tremble If the greene tree be cursed for bearing onely leaues without good fruit Mat. 21.19 what shall bee done vnto the dry which bringeth not forth so much as leaues of good profession hauing neither shew nor substance of deuotion in them Certainly confusion shame and infamie shall bee their portion hellish horror shall take hold vpon them when God shall open the Booke of his prescience and make them a gazing stocke to Angells men and Deuills Application Wherefore if any such be present let my counsell be acceptable vnto you breake off your sinnes by righteousnesse and your iniquities by shewing mercy to the poore Daniel 4.12 if so be there may bee a healing of your tranquility if not you haue heard already what shall then betide you when the Bookes are opened Vse 2. But as for you yee Sons of righteousnesse whose hearts are vpright towards your God lift vp your heads for your redemption draweth nigh Luc. 21.28 Blessed are yee for your iniquities are forgiuen and sinnes are couered Psal 32.1.2 The Lord will blot out your transgressions and remember
instructed that being obedient vnto gouernment they offend not those are weake nor make a rent and Schisme in the seamelesse Coat or Church of Christ Iohn 19.23 Many more there are of euill consciences but I leaue them all and desire we may all leaue these because they all are euill and at last if not preuented will bring their entertainers vnto ruine when once the booke of Conscience shall bee opened For as Saint Bernard speaketh Bern. lib. de Conscient there is no punishment greater then an euill Conscience and he giueth the reason because of all our sinnes Conscience is the witnesse the Iudge the torment the prison it is Conscience which punisheth Conscience which condemneth The like hath Saint Basil Saint Gregory Saint Hierom Basil Orat. 23. de Iudicio Greg. lib. 13. moral cap. 13. Hierom. in Isay lib. 16. Chrysost hom 52. in Gen. and diuers other of the Fathers Great is the terror of an euill Conscience it was Conscience saith Saint Chrysostome that moued Abimelech to send away Isaac Gen. 26. It was Conscience that affrighted Iosephs brethren in Aegypt Gen. 42.21 It was Conscience that changed the countenance of King Belshazzar while his thoughts did trouble him so that the ioynts of his loynes were loosed and his knees smote one against another Daniel 5.6 It was Conscience that made Foelix tremble while Paul did reason of righteousnesse temperance and Iudgement to come Acts 24.25 Though by the grace of God in Faith and true Repentance a man may flye from the euill of conscience yet conscience and the sentence of her Court cannot be escaped Chrysost Hom. 3. de verbis Isaiae Vidi Dom. And S. Chrysostom giueth the reason Hoc enim tribunal non pecunia corrumpitur non adulationibus acquiescit c. This tribunall of Conscience is not corrupted with money nor will it cease from sentence with fayre speeches it is Diuine and will performe that for which God hath made it And this especially shall be seene when that the Booke of Conscience shall be opened Let this suffice to perswade euery Christian by flying euill to auoyd an euill conscience A word or two which may moue vs to seeke for a good conscience that ioy may be vnto vs when the books are opened The excellency of a good Conscience A good Conscience is a continuall feast as the wise man speakes Prou. 15.15 It is rich and beautifull like the Temple of Solomon It is a field of blessednesse a Paradise of pleasure the ioy of Angels the treasure of a King the Arke of the Couenant the Palace of God and the Habitation of the blessed Spirit as Hugo de Anima describes it lib. 2. cap. 9. It is as the Apple of the Eie the tree of life and the Bed of the Soule wherein a Christian desireth to rest that hee may passe from that sweet and quiet rest of Conscience in this world to that rest eternall in the world to come Paes in Iacob It is related of Augustus Caesar that when a Roman died who while he liued was infinitely in debt yet liued in pleasure that of all his housholdstuffe which at his death was to bee sold Caesar did onely wish to buy his Bed for that saith hee must needes bee of an excellent vertue which could make the owner sleepe who ought so much And if that Bed was iudged worth so much then certainely this Bed of Conscience which can giue such quiet rest amongst a world of troubles must needes bee prized at a higher rate and therefore more to bee desired For what greater happinesse can there bee vnto a Christian in this life then to enioy a good a peaceable and a quiet Conscience especially if euer he haue felt a wounded Conscience or beene affrighted once with doubts and feares and terrors like a man that 's tossed in a raging and tempestuous Sea then is there nothing comparable vnto this peace of Conscience nor any knoweth how good how excellent it is but they that haue it And yet a quiet Conscience is not alwayes good nor peace so profitable vnto the soule 1 Some peace of Conscience not good For first the Conscience that is blind and ignorant may bee at peace and quiet because it neither seeth the filth of sin nor knoweth the Law of God nor vnderstandeth what vertue is commanded or what vice forbidden or if it doe t is but as men see starres in a darke and cloudy night onely the great ones not considering the strictnesse of obedience which God requires vnto his Law therefore it feeleth not sinne nor is it troubled for iniquity because it knoweth it not but walketh on boldly to destruction And such a peace is that which may be in a Conscience that 's secure and carelesse so ouer-busied with the entizing pleasures or profits of this world or lulled asleepe in that bewitching cradle of sinnes darke impurity that such a man can finde no leasure no not to dreame of Heauen or if he doe hee soone forgets his dreame and falleth toward Hell before hee bee aware And lastly such a peace is that that 's in a Conscience dead or feared made senslesse with the custome of iniquity t is without life and therefore feeleth no warre whiles the Deuill that strong man armed keepeth the Palace but is at peace Luk. 11.21 vntill the Trumpet sound vnto the Battell and Gods mighty power awaken it from this benūmed Lethargie vnto the fearfull sight of sinne and then t is like a roaring Lyon to deuoure its owner This is a peace that 's full of bitternesse in the end and therefore to bee taken heed of as a thing most dangerous to the Soule Quest But what 's the difference may some man say betweene this euill peace of an euill conscience and that which is to be desired that happy comfort of a good and quiet Conscience Answ I answer The good and quiet Conscience rightly informed agreeth in this with that which is blind or dead or carelesse that both are quiet and peaceable but there is a difference in their peace and quietnesse The difference betweene true and false peace of Conscience For first the Conscience that is dead or blind or carelesse is quiet and at peace because it seeth not sinne nor doth it feele it or if it doth yet it is so lulled asleepe with dead security that it considereth not what good or hurt it brings vnto the soule and therefore for that time it is insensible of any trouble and a kind of peace or truce is taken in which it liueth secure But a good Conscience is quiet and at peace because it feeleth sin to be forgiuen and vpon faith and true repentance beholdeth God the Father pacified and well pleased in his Sonne Againe a dead or blinde or carelesse Conscience is at peace because it feares not sinne though oftentimes it is not free from terror of God iudgement nor maketh it Conscience of impiety but is prophane
your sinnes no more Esay 43.25 But for your righteousnesse that shall bee had in euerlasting memory your workes of piety and works of pitty shall not be forgotten Mat. 6.4 Mat. 25.36 Though other men vniustly censure you it is God that seeth in secret and will reward you openly your zeale for truth and righteousnesse are in his presence Act. 10.4 your prayers and almes-deeds are gone to heauen before you your sighs and sobs and teares in secret he putteth into his bottle Psal 56.8 and all these things are noted in his Booke Reioyce therefore in the Lord alwaies and againe I say reioyce for it is for your good that the Bookes are opened And thus you haue seene the first booke the booke of Gods eternal prescience and foreknowledge 2 The Booke of Conscience opened The second followeth and this is Liber Conscientiae The Booke of euery mans particular Conscience for this also shall be opened at that last day of reckoning as the Master of the Sentences affirmes in his fourth booke and forty three Distinction Now Conscientia dicitur cum alio scientiae saith Aquinas Conscience is said to bee knowledge with another Aquinas prim parâ— Sum qu. 79. aâ—tic â—3 and well it may because God and conscience beare witnesse together Or Conscience is Cordis sâ—ientia the science or knowledg of the heart because the heart knoweth both it selfe and other things Hugo de anima liâ— 2 cap. 12. When it knoweth other things it is called science and when it knoweth it selfe it is called conscience as Hugo de anima obserues Therefore the Scripture calleth Conscience the Heart 1 Ioh. 3.20 and rightly it may in this respect because Conscience reflects vpon the Heart being enlightned by the vnderstanding and hence it is Concludens scientia a concluding science as the Schoolemen speake arguing out of principles from whence it either acquitteth or condemneth vs in all our actions I cannot stand to shew you at large the diuers opinions of the Schooles and other Diuines concerning this Booke of Conscience I will as briefly as I can giue you a touch of some few that you may the better conceiue what Conscience is Oriâ—en lib. 2. in Rom. Origen hee thought that Conscience was euery mans particular Angell a good conscience a good Angell and a bad conscience an euill Angell but this conceit was weake without proofe or approbation Some thinke this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Sparke of Conscience to be Habitus animae Relicta rationis sciâ—â—â—lia Aquinas 1. par Sum. qu. 79. artic 12. 13. A habit of the Soule to which Aquinas bendeth in the first part of his Summes Question the seuenty nine Article the twelfth But in the thirteenth Article he concludeth that it properly is rather Actus animae An acte of the Soule reflecting vpon it selfe and by application of the vnderstanding iudging what is good and what is evill Some haue deemed it to bee Res mixta A thing that 's mixt of both partly a Habit and partly an Act so Durandus and other Schoolemen Some later Diuines doe thinke it to be an office or function of the Soule set as an Arbitrator not onely to examine Humes Perkins but to giue euidence and iudge of particular actions between God and man For as that office of the soule by which a man doth thinke or imagine is called the minde and that by which a man discusseth and discerneth things conceiued is called the reason or iudgment and that wherby the things apprehended and discussed are preserued and kept is called the memory Euen so that function or office of the soule wherby a man vpon enquiry is certified that the things which hee hath done are good or euill is called Conscience And this office of Conscience the most affirm to be a diuine facultie or power in the soule working vpon it selfe by reflection For thus the Conscience by cooperation and help of other faculties in the soule produceth seuerall effects according to the seuerall subiects or actions about which it is conuersant declaring to the Soule what is the state and condition of it and by this means it is affected either with ioy or griefe with feare or boldnesse when it thinks on God the maker who knoweth the soule and Conscience as the Conscience knoweth it selfe And thus is Conscience an excellent part of the Image of God in man for as God looking into himselfe from all eternity seeth himselfe and begetteth his Sonne the expresse image of his Father euen so the Soule of man which is diuine looking vpon it selfe seeth and beholdeth it selfe with the state and condition thereof Quest But how can this be may some man demand Answ I answer Euen as in a looking-glasse a man seeth his owne face by reflection and discerneth the beauty or deformity of that the eye seeth it selfe which else it cannot So in Conscience which is the eye and glasse of the Soule the Soule beholds her selfe and sees her owne beauty or deformity together with the print or stampe of euery action which it hath committed eyther good or euill giuing euidence to God and to her selfe and iudging eyther for vs or against vs as the deed requires The seate of Conscience Some haue placed this Conscience in the Will or Heart of man some in the Memory some in the Vnderstanding which hath a two-fold operation the first Theoricall and thus the vnderstanding onely contemplates and considereth of truth and falshood but goeth no further The second Practicall and so it considereth euery particular circumstance searcheth whether it be good or euill vnder the later of these Conscience is comprehended not that conscience is a part of a part only circumscribed in the vnderstanding as a part of that for though the vnderstanding bee the Throne and Palace of Conscience where it exerciseth the principall offices yet as the soule is Tota in toto Similitude tota in qualibet parte corporis whole in the whole and whole in euery part of the body though chiefly in the head or heart so the Conscience is whole in the whole soule keeping a Court in the whole and yet exercising not euery part for the soule is indiuisible in respect of parts but euery faculty and power of it In the vnderstanding it is a Iudge discerning the actions and giuing sentence to acquire or condemne according to that Rule or Law with which it is enlightened In the memory it is a Register to witnesse what is done or what is not done In the Will and Affections an executioner to punish or reward with ioy or griefe with boldnes or terror according to the fact or feeling of it The manner of working in the ConscieÌ„ce The manner of working is by a kinde of practicall syllogisme The Maior is that Law seated in the vnderstanding The Minor brought by the memory I remember I haue done or not done according to that Law of God The conclusion followeth