â—a iudgement most fearefull and lamentable These haue them polluted and troubled 1. Tim. 4. sometimes perhappes like the raging Sea Tit. 1. 15. which cannot rest whose waters cast vp myre and Esay 57. 20. dirt blinded in their vnderstandings and erroneous in their wils and therefore as S. Iames speaketh vnstable in all their wayes I doe not denie Jam. 1. 8. but that these men haue their kindes of ioy yet let vs looke a while into the causes of errour in conscience the better to iudge of the manner of their reioycing The first cause of error is Ignorance and of this ranke are silly and simple men who out of ignorance and weakenesse being deluded eyther by themselues or by others do apprehend things for bad which are good and for good those which are bad which deceiueth their soules and causeth their willes for to sinne Lippientibus saith Tertullian singularis Lucerna numerosa videtur Bleare eyed men spie two Candles where there is but one Ignorant consciences are bleare-eyed yea sometimes stone blinde they cannot possibly discerne aright and the ioy of these it is but like a mans that walketh in a darke and cloudie Ioh. 12. night who knoweth not whither he wandereth full of errour of doubting of darkenesse for if the vnderstanding the light of a man be darkned how great is that darknes It is our Sauiour that putteth the question as being a darknes fitter to be admired then easie to be esteemed The second cause of errour in Conscience is Pride which Mat. 6. 13. worketh specially in those who as the wise man Pro. 1. 31. speaketh do eate of the fruit of their owne hands and are filled with their owne deuices Quibus res sordidâ— est saith Senâ—ca trita vulgari via viuere vnto whom the olde way of the Christian world so generally followed of all is either accounted none or nothing worth It is reported by the Poet of Chiron a new fangled fellow that he was wearie of immorrality and wished to die The Athenians hauing their fill of new wines for nouelties sake saith Plutarch would needes drinke oyles Zeuxes as Plinie relateth would not willingly paint any common picture but Centaures and deformed Monsters such giddy men are there in Gods Church iust of the stampe of these qui ex rebus nouis claritatem famae venantur saith Gregory who take delight by their mis-shapen opinions amongst the vulgar sort to magnifie themselues These are greatly puffed vp with a swelling ioy but yet without true substance like to their proud vnderstandings their peruerse wils and their misinformed consciences The third cause of error is inordinate affection euidently seene in those who yeelde to their owne desires and are therefore men of a large and a stretching conscience hauing their iudgements perished with a longing appetite because as Seneca saith truely perit omne Iudicium cum res transit in affectum when any thing is seated in the Pange and heat of affection the iudgement concerning that matter whatsoeuer it be is vtterly decayed These thinke it a part of good seruice done to God a meere case of conscience to follow so farre the sway of their vnbridled affections as eyther with Saul in the olde Testament to kill the Prophets because hee hated them or with Paul in the new Testament to make hauocke of the Church of Christ for loue vnto the Iewes Thus many according to their seuerall desires transported with passion and hauing their consciences and affections of equal breadth grow presumptuous in their actions and being deceiued by the slattery of their owne hearts haue a large but a very loose reioycing The last cause of errour is fearefulnesse of minde which contracteth the soule to an ouer-narrow and too strict a scantling entertayning cause of feare where no feare is Incident vnto this errour are men of perplexed mindes trembling at a shaddow and wounding their soules with strawes Vnto whom Mat. 8. 26. I may fitly speake as Christ did once to his Why are ye so fearefull O ye of little faith The auncient reuerend name of a Bishop is as a skarebug vnto them they start at it as at an Affrican Monster newly presented vnto the view of the world These abridge themselue in many things of Christian liberty their feare causeth misconstruction and their consciences being ful of cowardise their ioy is like vnto them alwayes pinching and ioyned with perplexity To conclude this point also that heauenly consolation which S. Paul felt and which euery one of vs is bound to seeke after it is not to be found in an ignorant a peruerse a presumptuous a perplexed conscience we may say of all these as the Angels said to the women Luke 24. concerning Christ Why seeke you the liuing among the dead a liuing ioy in a dying Conscience Non est hic it is not here But our reioycing saith the Apostle is this the restimony of our conscience Sith then this vnspeakeable ioy of heart cannot be had but where there is a testimony let vs now enquire what this testimony of conscience should be which is thus requisite to a sound and a hearty ioy Conscience by Diuines is defined to be a knowledge ioyned with a knowledge whereby we know what we know and vnderstand that of our selues which God knoweth of vs. By naturall condition it is placed betwixt man and God vnder God and therefore doth it yeelde all subiection vnto him aboue man and therefore hath it a power ouer him to accuse or excuse him to fill him full of sorrow or exceeding ioy In the exercising of which power it vseth a testimony Now euen in the Ciuill Law we are forbidden to admit of euery kind of Testimony promiscually Vox vnius est vox nullius saith Baldus one witnesse is no witnesse Vnitesti ne Catoni quidem credendum est saith Hierome If Cato himselfe should speake alone who for his integrity was feigned by the Poet Iuuenall to come down from heauen Tertius de Celo cecidit Cato he were not alone to bee beleeued In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall euery word stand Deu. 19. v. 15. First then in the cause of conscience especially there is required a competent number which must make a testimony Though one apple be enough to manifest the life of a tree yet doth not one Swallow make a Summer neyther is one good motion of the minde though it be of grace able to giue vnto vs a sound cause of ioy And as plurality of witnesses must concurre to make a testimony so againe is it needefull that they be duly qualified The Ciuilian telleth vs that vnto sufficient witnesses these things are required Aetas conditio sexus discretio fama Atque fortuna fides in testibus ista requiras Age condition sexe discretion fame estate and faith are to be obscrued in euery witnes And as good choyce ought to be made in any case in the world then in
this of conscience principally no one thing being of greater consequence in the life of man and wherunto as Baldus speaketh of Wils and Testaments there may soone be admitted vitium inuâ—sibile a secret and a hidden errour Here then at once are excluded as insufficient in the Court of Conscience for the dispatch of this office all opinions and variable conceits of men al conclusions which are onely probable and coniecturall for these are childish and in their nonage Againe the rebellious and vnbridled affections of the heart which by their condition are no freemen but in bondage vnto reason are like Knights of the post which abuse the Court and therefore good reason is there that when they be too forward they should bee reiected If Concupiscence would become Amica Curtae a bufie informer in the Court of Conscience trust her not she is as Informers are corrupt and infamous If Choler be stirring follow it not it is but a madde and bedlam passion like furious zeale without discretion and giue no fit testimony for a reioycing conscience Loue hatred enuy malice and the rest are womannish and vnfaithfull and he that trusteth his owne heart is not wise Prou. 28. ver 26. Abraham begat Isaac when as Sara was olde the spirit begetteth ioy when the affections are the weakest The testimony of our Conscience must be of good fame good yeares free faithfull discreet euermore ioyned with verity iudgement and iustice as Hierome obserueth vpon the fourth Chapter of Ieremie If all these then be insufficient and deceitfull whither shall we turne vs to get this able testimony Damascene in his Logique ascribeth this duety to knowledge in the vnderstanding which then it rightly performeth when as euery thought is brought into obedience and all imaginations are subdued vnto it 2. Cor. 10. ver 5. It is an vncontrouleable Axiome both in Philosophy and Diuinitie that there is nulla or dinata actio quae proficiscitur à voluntate in intellectum that there is no action wel ordered which commeth from the will to the vnderstanding but the vnderstanding must first beget it and then the will bring it forth he that will sing in the spirit must first haue his vnderstanding tuned Sing prayses vnto God saith Dauid euery one that hath vnderstanding It is a Psal 47. 7. speech that sauoureth of little learning to say that a man hath more conscience then science the contrary is too often true more science then conscience for Conscientia is concludens scientta a concluding knowledge which doth necessarily import a precedent vnderstanding There must be illumination in the braine light in the head before there can be sanctification in the will true heate in the heart and if there be no proportion betwixt heat and light the ouerplus of heate which is in many is but ignis fatâ—â—s a foolish fire Iohn Baptist is called a burning and a shining light first burning Job 5. 35. then shining It is true if he be considered with respect vnto others but take him in himselfe alone then was he Lucens ardens first enlightned then enflamed Lucere vanum ardere parum lucere ardere perfectum saith S. Bernard God alwayes beginneth to renue a man in his vnderstanding that which by our fall was first corrupted is first repaired The vnderstanding was first blinded by the Serpents subtlety and there doth God beginne to worke euery good action And therefore it is not will affection coniecture opinion or any inferior power of the soule but knowledge in the mind that must yeeld a testimony to a reioycing conscience And yet not all kinde of knowledge not naturall for then might the Pagan or Heathen man reioyce not Legall for then were there ioy in the bare killing letter of the Law but Euangelicall begotten in vs by the spirite of GOD and sowne in our hearts by the preaching of his Worde True it is that by our creation wee had a three-folde knowledge which was most excellent first of all things created secondly of our Creatour thirdly of our selues But by our transgression we are become like brute beasts voyde of vnderstanding We haue a threefold ignorance in stead of our knowledge First of all things created Secondly of God Thirdly of our selues Hence is it that sinnes are said by S. Augustine to be the soules darknesse that Gregory calleth offendors fooles and S. Paul the wisedome of the world enmity vnto God The Mappe of the whole world is wittily comprised in the compasse of a fooles hood and Nosce teipsum in the front thereof which may serue to tell vs what naturally we are Those Animalia sapientie as Tertullian stileth the Philosophers those profound wizards of the world though they had a slender ghesse that Minerua should come from the head of Iupiter true wisedome from God yet they feigned her to be a Virgin vnknowen of man Socrates who was esteemed the wisest amongst them confessed of himselfe that he knew nothing at all Many were of opinion that all things are but opinions Thus euen in naturall things are we ignorant in our knowledge not much vnlike a smoaking fornace which voideth vp plenty of fume yet is voide of light yea our foolish hearts are full of darknesse Rom. 1. vers 21. As therefore in certaine Cities among the Iewes as Philo reporteth it was not permitted to a man of a scandalous life to put vp his petition to the Senate by himselfe but was to moue by another whose life and fame was neuer impeached so standeth the case with our vnderstanding Naturally it is out of temper and defiled and therefore in the deliuery of this testimony it may not speake but by proxie who is vpright and Iohn 2 Epist 5. incorrupt euen the Spirit of God speaking by the word of God The conscience must beare me witnesse by the spirit saith S. Paul Rom. 9. vers 1. and then let iudgement and will and affections concurre we are sure to haue a true testimony and a reioycing conscience when as the Spirit of God doth testifie vnto our spirits that we are Saints and Sonnes of God Rom. 8. vers 16. And now are we come to that which was S. Paules reioycing not in any worldly or outward things nor yet in an erroneous or misinformed conscience but in the excusing sense of his soule in regard of God and in the integrity of his heart in respect of man Prouerb 10. Wisedome did guide him and therefore he walked Iohn 1. boldly the spirit did beare him witnesse and therefore he reioyced truly he built vp a Consistory in his soule with iudgement cleansed it with repentance and adorned it with loue and so reioyced in the testimony of his conscience This kinde of Conscience 1. Tim. 2. is called a good conscience and in the second to Tim. 1. a pure conscience not because it is free from the staine of Originall sinne for it is a certaine truth which S. Augustine setteth downe in the
head of Aaron that ranne downe vpon his beard and from his beard to the Psalme 133. skirts of his clothing Pacem te poscimus omnes They are frantique men that fall out with peace The old Gentiles loued her so well as that they made her a Goddesse And Tiberius dedicated a Temple vnto her in Mount Palatine as we may reade in Suetonius When Salomons Temple was a building there was not a stroke heard nor the noyse of a hammer That King of peace when he builded a Temple for the God of peace would haue it euen in the doing to acknowledge both the end and Author Iosephus giues a reason why the Iewes so louingly did offer Sacrifice one for another because saith he they held themselues to be fellowes hauing one Temple to one God common to all being the common God of all When Christ came into the world his Angels did sing a song of peace whiles he continued in the world he preached peace to men when he went out of the world he left his peace as a legacy vnto his Church Acts 2. In the prime age whereof the Disciples agreement and peace was such as if there had beene but one Soule amongst them In the time of Tertullian as himselfe reporteth this was the Romans obseruation which they made of the Christians Vide vt se inuicem diligunt Christiani See how these Christians doe loue one another they knew themselues likewise to be fellow members hauing Christ Iesus one head to one body common to all being the common head of all Our Religion commeth à Religando whereby saith Nazianzene those which belong vnto God are made one with him Those which be sonnes of the Spirit become hot in loue Those doe beare one anothers burthens which belong vnto him that bare all our burthens Let vs come lower vnto our selues Since the preaching of the Gospell in this Iland wherein wee liue wee haue beene kissed with the kisses of peace Our gouernment hath beene peace Esay 60. 18. Saluation our walles and praise our gates And as Tertullus doth to Foelix in the story of the Acts so Acts 24. must we wholly acknowledge in all places with all thanks to God that we haue obtayned and doe now enioy many excellent blessings by the means of peace Were it not then beyond all measure monstrous that any should be so tossed with the tempest of desires as not to loue peace so sweet in experience and imbraced of all The Apostle commandeth vs to keepe the vnity of the Spirit in the Ephes 4. 3. bond of peace and as farre as it is possible to haue Rom. 12. 18. pâ—ace with all men The Psalmist willeth vs to seeke peace and to ensue it We haue one God one Gospell one King one Continent The diuision of tongues was the confusion of Babel The diuision of the heart is the death of the Soule The diuision of minds is the ouerthrow of Kingdomes The diuision of Gods people is the destruction of his Church If we bite one another we shall be consumed one of another And yet behold peace may take vp Gal. 5. 15. that complaint that God once made against his people Esay 1. 2. Israel I haue nourished and brought vp children but they haue rebelled against me Mischieuous maâ— contents deuoted to selfe loue fetching the ioy of their Conscience from a deceiptfull testimony suppose themselues to be cold in Religion vnlesse they be hot in faction And so doe they lay about them 2. Sam. 24. 18. as if the Altar stood still vpon Araunahs threshing Psal 140. 2. floore Their study is to stirre vp strife all the day Tsal 7. 14. long Destruction and vnhappnies is in their waies and the way of peace they haue not knowen They trauaile with mischiefe and in their beds appointed for rest they plot how to be turbulent and to Psal 7. 15. bring forth their vngodlinesse And so far are they from desiring of peace betweene Church and Kirke from maintaining of peace between man and man as they want many times that loue or inclination which one Beast doth beare vnto another If one Sheepe be faint the rest will stand betweene it and the Sunne till it bee comforted if one Hogge bee hunted the whole heard will muster together to reuenge it It is reported of Bees that Aegrotante vna lamentantur omnes If one be sicke all are sorry Yea some Beasts are more kinde to mankinde then some men to themselues In humane storie we reade of gratefull Lyons of kinde Eagles of trusty Dogges Qui mori pro Dominis commori cum Dominis parati as Ambrose writeth In holy Bible 1. King 17. we finde that Elias was sedde by Rauens and that Dan 6. 22. Daniel was not hurt amongst hungry Lyons O detestandam humane malitiae crudelitatem saith Cyprian Aues pascunt ferae parcunt homines saeuiunt O hatefull cruelty the Birds feede the beasts fauour but such is the rage of a mis-informed conscience as that one man will shew himselfe a wolfe vnto another These whersoeuer they be I charge not this place are the troublers of Israel are thornes in our eyes and pricks in our sides dismembring the body and renting the coate of Christ that same Tunica which was vnica that coate without Seame Out of a false Testimony perhaps they may promise peace vnto themselues yet as Hierome saith Tranquillit as ista tempest as est their calme of conscience will one day proue a storme The God of Esay 57. 21. peace giue vnto them a true testimony of their conscience that they and we and all may ioyntly sing a sweet song of peace together and make vp a full consort and harmonie of heauenly ioy Thirdly obedience to our King is a duty most necessary Nature commendeth it Scripture commandeth it Present danger pleadeth for it Rex vnus est apibus Dux vnus est Gregibus saies Cyprian Among the Bees there is one Master amongst the flocks of Sheepe one Belweather The Cranes haue their captaine quem ordine literato sequantur whom the rest doe follow as Hierome obserueth Passe we from nature of lesser force and come we to Scripture of greater power Let euery Scule Rom. 13. 1. be subiect to the authority of higher powers saith S. Paul A peremptory proposition inforced by manifold reasons First all powers are of God the higher from the highest Secondly they bring with them the good of order for the powers are ordeined Thirdly it is sinne to disobey them for hee that resisteth authority resisteth Gods ordinance Verses Fourthly Iudgements temporall and eternall doe accompany this sinne They that resist shall receiue to themselues damnation Fistly Gouernment is the meanes of our weale he is the Minister of God for thy wealth Wherefore we must needs obey and obey not only for feare of vengeance but also because of conscience Our obedience is acceptable to God who enioyneth it