when and where you have been about your pretended holy Duties what wandrings of your eyes there were by which one might guesse at the wandrings of your heart how incomposed you were how soon wearied and tyred out sooner by farre than when at your vain sports or recreations and don 't you remember how at such a time and in such a place you slept away the Sermon how drowsie you were in Prayer and the like again at such a time and in such a place and so lost your precious season of grace and the benefit of it which at that time you might have enjoyed Don't you remember these things If you don 't I do And then he proceeds to sins of another kinde and of another and of another after them and so comes pouring in with a great and long Catalogue of sins of Commission with their aggravations Then Secondly He brings in a new Charge as great and heavy as the former of sins of Omission and neglects of Duty neglects of secret Duties Family-Duties all sorts of relative-Duties and aggravates them also by their Circumstances And Thirdly Hereupon what doth he inferre but that all the Profession which hath been made hath been but a meere pretence to holiness but meere Hypocrisie which he labours yet more strongly to prove by carrying his Charge farther for saith he to the soul that he is now accusing is not all that is done by you from such and such rotten grounds for such and such unworthy ends that you may get a name in the world or make such or such carnal advantages to your self not out of any pure love at all either to God or the Duties that you would be believed to be sincere in And what is all this but a kinde of holy-cheat and a grand Imposture both to your self and others and consequently will not the hopes and confidences you build upon these false foundations deceive you And as for that repentance which you think to fly to for your refuge whilst you would make your self and others believe that you thereby get off from your guilts and heal all again Alas Is not that a meere cheat too and a miserable deceit of your own heart For if there were a true repentance in you such as you pretend to would you fall into the same sins again and again and that often True Repentance even you your self know is alwaies accompanied with an effectual Reformation and a total breaking off from every evil Now lay all this together and are you or can you be the man or the woman you would have the world take you to be No verily it cannot be your own Conscience being Judge as well as I Thus you see what the Charge is and how heavy that Satan brings in to all which an excusing Conscience makes answer and defends it self thus First For those sins saies Conscience that you like a Devil accuse me with when the matter is well-looked into will they not at least very many of them prove more yours than mine especially such as you call presumptuous sins and aggravate with such grievous circumstances 't was you that tempted me to them that hurried me on to the committing of them was it not 'T is you that laid the objects before me by which I was enticed that stirred up the old corruption which at first you foisted into my nature and which you have ever since fomented and brought fuel to This is one excuse that Conscience makes But Secondly Conscience adds I deny not but though you as a soul-murderer most maliciously tempted me yet since I consented the sins were mine as well as yours both the sins of Omission and the sins of commission but three things I can say for my self that you can never say 1. I have a most gracious Saviour and Redeemer that is given to me and that hath undertaken for me Can you say this Devil you know you cannot He took not upon him the nature of Angels but the seed of Abraham even of the faithful Abraham whose seed I am 2. I have two natures in me a new Nature not the old onely I am a new man a Son of the second Adam as well as of the first I am regenerate and thorow Grace am born again I have something of Heaven in me but you are all Devil all Hell 3. I can truely say what-ever you say to the contrary that I have sincerely repented and do repent daily which you can never do For you are given up to a damned state sealed to destruction and reserved for the day of wrath As for my Repentance which you object so much against and by all your might do labour to invalidate and my Profession too which you so falsly asperse as if it were meer hypocrisie I can evidence the truth of both of them thus 1. I hate the sin which I do and the evil which I do I would not do my will is against it and the good that I would do 't is true I do it not because sin is present with me but my will is to do it notwithstanding and in Gods account 't is the Will that denominates the man as the will is such the man is 2 Cor. 8.11 12. 2. Whereas you charge me with falling into the same sins again and again I confess it whilst I carry a body of death about me and a Law in my members warring against the Law of my minde and both these agitated by such a tempting Devil as thou art I do fall daily Sins of dayly incursion and infirmity come in upon me But hast thou not heard Devil that the Righteous man falleth seven times that is often and riseth again Prov. 24.16 For repentance is not onely one single act but 't is an habitual grace in the heart proceeding from the new Creature formed there whose proper act it is All distinct natures act according to their kinde and act necessarily the Sun shines and alwaies shines because it shines naturally and can do no other So doth grace alwaies act like it self and cannot cease acting But yet 3. Conscience farther excuseth it self and tells the Devil to his face that as he would accuse it of more evil than 't is guilty of so he hath more good in him than the Devil knows of for what-ever Grace what-ever good thoughts or affections are in the heart the Devil knows nothing of all that the heart and the workings of it being altogether a secret unto him so that how many an holy struggle may be in the heart against this or that sin against this or that temptation How many a sharpe fight and combate there the Devil is ignorant of Though he see the tears that drop and hear the sighs and groans that the afflicted and grieved soul utters for sin yet hee knows not what 't is for unless it bee made known to him in so many articulated words Now then how many thousand holy sighs and groans how many repentings may there be how
what fear yea what vehement desire yea what zeal yea what revenge In all things ye have approved your selves to be clear in this matter Here are inward works works of mortification works of sanctification heart-works such as all the faculties and affections of the soul are imployed in not meer external acts and outward formalities without life and power An Hypocrite may go as far in these seemingly yea and farther too than some sound and sincere-hearted Christians Look therefore into thine heart examine the matter there and do it faithfully without putting a cheat or fraud upon thy self and if thou findest thy self under this character that the Apostle here gives of a true penitent then I dare pronounce thee a regenerate person and one that hast no just reason to be afraid or unwilling to dye SECT 5. Two more special remedies added to the former viz. a reconciled God and a good conscience Where first of a reconciled God TO the aforesaid general remedy I shall add two special ones which yet do more or lesse alwaies accompany the former The first is a reconciled God which speaks much particularly these five things First That Divine Justice is fully satisfied so fully that it can lay no farther claim upon which God presently saies concerning the soul for whom such satisfaction is made Deliver him for I have found a ransome I am well appayed for all the wrongs hee hath done unto me and for every debt he hath contracted Secondly That Gods anger is thereupon appeased his wrath extinguished and so himself wholly pacified and attoned All displeasure is now gone not an angry word now nor an unpleasing look any more And when all frowns are out of Gods face why should not all tears bee wiped from our eyes Thirdly It alwaies brings pardon with it Reconciliation necessarily supposeth a total removal of guilt No charge comes in against that soul with whom God is reconciled nor none wil be heard against it How busie soever Satan is that great accuser of the Brethren yet he can do nothing now when the Attonement is once past and remission obtained through the blood of Jesus it abides for ever 'T is everlasting mercy everlasting love As God is unchangeable in his Nature so in his Word and Promise Hath hee made it one branch of the Covenant to pardon the iniquity of a poor penitent Believer and remember his sin no more Jer. 31.34 He will be as good as his word and the Soul that trusts him shall finde it so Fourthly By means of this the soul stands wholly blameless and as 't were without the least spot or wrinkle before God 'T is a pure and an holy Soul so thoroughly washed by an all-cleansing blood so 't is called 1 John 1.7 that no defilement remains upon it nothing unlovely or displeasing It is become a great beauty as I may say now and a very taking Object in the eye of God And thereupon Fifthly he takes it into his peculiar favour and admits it into his very bosome as his Spouse-Royal Queen Hester when first purified and perfumed with the Oyle of Myrrhe and other rich Odours Esth 2. was not more acceptable to the embraces of Ahashuerus than a soul thus cleansed and purified by the blood of Jesus and sweetned by his precious Oyntments is unto the God of Glory Hee is no longer now a stranger much less an enemy unto the soul but a dear Lord and Husband a God in Covenant with it for ever All which considered tell me what reason is there or can there be for any man to be afraid and so consequently unwilling to dye with whom God is thus reconciled Sure none at all And this is the first special Remedy SECT 6. Of a good Conscience which is the second special Remedy and wherein it consists It hath two branches 't is a quiet Conscience and an excusing Conscience a quiet Conscience consists also in two things 1. In a setled and well-grounded peace 2. In being void of offence both towards God and towards men Where of the first I Come now to the second special Remedy a good Conscience which doth likewise much fortifie against the fear of Death I shall not here speak of Conscience at large neither of its Nature nor several operations nor enquire whether it be properly an Habit as Scotus Bonaventure and Durandus with other Schoolmen would have it but onely briefly lay down a few things for the right understanding of it First Then it may be thus described It is the judgement of a man concerning himself as it is subjected to the judgement of God the supream Judge and is that which God himself as I may so say appeals to Isa 5.3 Judge I pray betwixt me and my Vineyard So 1 Cor. 11.31 If we would judge our selves we should not be judged And Secondly 'T is said to be a good Conscience when it judgeth rightly and according to the Word of God which alone both directs and bindes it Thus it is honestè bona good in respect of the honesty and integrity of it when it accuseth or excuseth rightly and according to truth and this in all the actions of a man's life whether good or bad For in Conscience are two things by which it is enabled to make a judgement of its own Acts. 1. That which Divines call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a treasury of Knowledge in which the Notions of things to be done or not to be done are as 't were kept and conserved 2. That which is called judicium practicum or rather the act of a practical judgement proceeding from the understanding faculty which is the chief seat of Conscience and because it alone next to God himself knows its own act and none else therefore the knowledge of it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a con-knowledge as I may so say or a knowledge in combination with Gods knowledge which hee hath of man and of his actions as oâ—â— Learned Perkins expresseth it whom Amesius follows But to say no more about this but what the Apostle doth 1 John 3.20 If our heart condemn us God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things I proceed to speak of a good Conscience as it is pacatè bona a quiet Conscience of which there are two branches wherein it doth consist The first is a settled and well-grounded peace It is not any kinde of peace a sleight and unsound peace that makes a quiet conscience or can give such a rest and complacency unto it as to cause it to become a Nightingale in a mans own bosome and that in the time of the greatest distress that can befal him in this world No but it is a firm and sollid peace that must that can do this and no other Now that I may be the better understood what I mean by such a sollid firm settled and well-grounded peace as constitutes a quiet Conscience that is at peace within it self and makes its own Musick whatever clamours
otherwise may be round about it I shall lay down several things to which it bears a faithful witness and of which it hath clear and satisfying evidences within it self in which sense it is that Salomon speaks Prov. 14.14 where he saith that a good man is satisfied from himself First Then a quiet Conscience and setled in such a firm peace as aforesaid bears witness to this that it hath truly and savingly closed with Jesus Christ and this by a double act an act of faith and an act of love By an act of Faith considering him as Christ-Crucified in which sense most properly hee is the next and immediate object of Faith And by an act of Love considering him as a most excellent and lovely person In which sense properly he is the highest object of our love for 't is amabile something lovely that is most properly objectum amoris the object of love Now when Conscience gives evidence of such a double closure with Jesus Christ both as a Prince and a Saviour as a dying Mediatour and a dear Lord and Husband and that it hath not onely done this for once as I may so say but continues to do this alwaies by new acts of Faith and Love by repeated acts every day and so is alwaies united to him hath and doth alwaies accept him is as 't were alwaies embracing him and cleaving to him and that as heartily and affectionately as ever a pleased Bride did to and with her beloved Bridegroom and that it hath taken him and ever doth take him as God gives him with all his Offices and Powers over the Soul as King Priest and Prophet to be taught and ruled as wel as saved by him I say when Conscience bears witness to this and hath an undoubted and clear proof of this within it self What greater foundation can it lay for its own peace and quiet For doth not peace come in by believing The Apostle saith it doth Rom. 15.13 and indeed where is such a peace to be had a peace so sweet and satisfying as a soul enjoyes that hath contracted a friendship a great and intimate friendship between Christ and it self Now this every believing soul doth every true lover of Christ that closeth with him by such a double act of Faith and Love as hath been now mentioned For doth not such a closure 1. Necessarily make an union betwixt Christ and the soul a strict firm and entire union And where such an union is doth not communion follow too Sweet and blessed communion for doth not Christ and the Soul now live in each others bosomes Is there any more than one heart as it were between them Espousals when finished give more than co-habitation here more than a meer dwelling together namely a mutual in-dwelling in each other the Soul in the very bosome and heart of Christ and Christ and Christ only in the soul So saies the Apostle Christ in you the hope of Glory Col. 1.27 And if any man be in Christ he is a new Creature 2 Cor. 5.17 And can there be so sweet a peace then any where as here Secondly When Conscience bears farther witness that as it hath closed thus with Crucified Christ and lovely Christ in his person so that it hath done as God himself doth laid all its sins upon Christs back transferred all thither transposed them all from its own back to his who is best able to bear them yea who alone can bear them and the wrath of God due to them Compare Isa 53.6 with 2 Cor. 5.21 Where 't is said that God hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all that is of all that believe and that he hath made him to be sin for us What else did the slain Goat which was offered up for all the sins and uncleannesses of the children of Israel signifie Levit. 16.7 15 16. and the live-Goat over whose head all the iniquities of the Children of Israel and all their transgressions in their sins were confessed and upon whose head they were all put and he sent away into the Wilderness or as some say into the land of forgetfulness verse 21 22. I say what did they both signifie but this that Christ is he whom these two Goats typifyed Christ onely that bears our sins dyes for them and carries them away so as they never come into remembrance any more and that he was anti-type to both these Goates and that in this respect only is evident in the New Testament first to the slain Goat therefore is called the Lamb slain Rev. 5.6 9. and also to the scape-Goat therefore said to bee the Lamb of God that taketh away or beareth away so 't is in the Margent in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the sins of the world John 1.29 Upon him then it is that every true Believer lays all his sins and that even every day as fast as he commits them brings new loads new burthens to Christs back all his new contracted guilts and were not Christ mighty to bear as well as mighty to save how could he stand under such encreasing weights And from so many hands too that continually lay load upon him For doth not a true Believer and right improver of Christ Crucified every day do two things bring something to Christ and fetch something from him First he brings something to Christ What 's that you 'l say Why hee brings both his worst and his best to Christ His worst that is his sins and laies them on Christs back his best and that is his heart and affections in all the Services he performs to him And then fetcheth something from him every day and if you ask what that is I answer nothing but his All all his Pardons all his Comforts all manner of supplies from his rich stores strength against his Corruptions and Temptations abilities for the Exercise of every Grace and Performance of every Duty Now then if Conscience bears witness to this too is not here new matter of peace still Thirdly When Conscience bears witness that since the soul hath come into Christs arms and transferred all its sins upon his back it hath also arrayed it self with his Robes his Robes of Righteousness that the same Faith which united it to his Person hath put 〈◊〉 his Ornaments and so is not only 〈◊〉 to him but wears him and is thereby become beautiful and glorious Beautiful with his Beauty and comeliness which he hath put upon it Ezek. 16.14 with those Garments of Salvation which he hath now cloathed it with and all be-deck'd it as a Bride is decked with Jewels Isa 61.10 for how tattered and terne soever a poor soul be before 't is espoused to Christ yet when that day once comes that blessed day of all others 't is in rags no longer but puts on its Robes of state When Salomons Queen stands by him she stands there like her self as one made meet to be his Queen in gold of Ophir and cloathing of
wrought Gold Psal 45.9 13. So doth poor captive Hester when taken out of her captive-condition and made Queen she throws away her captive-weeds and comes to her Liege-Lord and Prince with the Crown Royal upon her head and in robes of Majesty though all still not at her own cost or charges or by her own procurement but by free-gift from her gracious Prince who finding love enough in his heart to make her his Queen found money enough in his Coffers thus richly to adorn her And thus is it here between Christ and the Soul he provides it sumptuous attire and the soul by Faith puts it on and Oh! now how lovely and taking is it in the eye of Christ what a goodly person is it How doth it dazle in itâ— Cloath of Gold and in such a cloatâ— of Gold as is Coat of Male too which Divine Justice it self with its keenest Arrows can never pierce all which while Conscience hath an evidence of within it self and can prove that it hath thus put on Christ Is not here also another ground of peace of admirable peace Yes verily saies the Apostle Rom. 5.1 Being justified by Faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ Fourthly When Conscience bears witness that 't is not content onely with the meere work of Regeneration and that it hath indeed passed that over whereby it is become a Childe as well of the second Adam as of the first and bears the Image as of the Natural man so of the Heavenly too but also is every day endeavouring to perfect holiness in the fear of God and to be growing in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and so more and more making sure of Heaven according as the Apostle excellently discourseth in 2 Pet. 1.5 9. For so says he An entrance shall be ministred unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdome of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ So how why by giving all diligence to adde to Faith Virtue and to Virtue Knowledge and so of the rest that is to add new degrees to every Grace for otherwise there is no new Grace can be added that was not received in the first work when the soul was first regenerated and became a new creature The meaning therefore is that he is not satisfied with meere habitual Grace but is careful that every grace may grow and grow at root and branch too in fairness sweetness fragrancy He would not have the earthly plants and 〈◊〉 in his Garden out-grow the Heavenly ones that are in his heart he would not have the Sun Showers and Influences of the visible Heavens fall 〈◊〉 upon his Violets and his Roses than the powerful Beâ—â—â—s and Influences of the Sun of Righteousness upon his Soul and therefore he takes pains with his own heart waits upon every Ordinance improves every opportunity he meets with seeks all waies and means and useth all possible endeavours that he may thrive in his inward man and at last attain to that stature in Christ that may render him meet to partake of the inheritance of the Saints in light However others spend their time in this world this is one of his main businesses and this his Conscience bears him witness and is not here again more matter of peace Fifthly when Conscience bears witness to a man that to the utmost of his power he hath faithfully discharged all relative duties that lye upon him either as a good subject to his superiours and the powers he lives under as far as may any way consist with his loyalty to Jesus Christ or in his domestick relations in his family as an Husband a Father a Master or as a Childe a Servant or what ever other Family Relation he or she hath stood in or as related to a Church of Christ of which happily he is a member or to any other of his fellow-Saints abroad or Neighbours Dealers Traders with whom he any way converseth I say when Conscience accuseth for no want of duty here likewise It is a quiet Conscience and at peace within it self Sixthly When Conscience bears a man witness that he hath been or at least is of a God-like Spirit that is of a gracious and benigne Disposition 1. To all men in general That as his Sun shines both upon the Just and unjust and his Rain falls on good and evil Matth. 5.45 So he hath been and alwaies is ready as occasion serves to do good to all sorts of men even the very worst that are so far as may consist with the Rule of his Duty and he hath any warrant for it But more especially towards three sorts of persons in the World 1. To Malefactors Enemies such as hate him have much offended him and done him wrong yet hath been alwaies ready to lay aside revenge and to pardon and forgive even to seventy times seven Thus God doth and thus his Conscience bears him witness 't is his not onely endeavour but delight to do even to overcome evil with good 2. To persons in misery he is like God here too of a merciful disposition can say as Job yea and appeal to God himself as he did concerning his compassion and helpfulness to the Widdow the Fatherless the poor and the oppressed that had no friend to speak for them in the Gate No Morsels to feed upon nor Garments to wear but what they received from his Table Bounty or Procurement Job 31 16-22 3. But most of all to the poor suffering Members of Jesus Christ to them of all others his Bowels yearne them to be sure he will not fail to relieve cherish visit comfort and every way as far as able minister unto them and this without distinction of Persons or Parties 't is not this or that difference in Opinion provided it be such as leaves a man upon the foundation but the grace of Christ that draws his heart and his compassions from him Seventhly and lastly When Conscience yet farther bears witness that in all he hath purely sought the glory of God even in all that he hath done throughout his whole course in one kinde or another yea and that he hath not onely been ready to do what Service he could for God in any capacity wherein he hath at any time set him since he had any saving knowledge of him but hath been ready also to suffer for him and give testimony to his Truths Waies Ordinances and holy Institutions in opposition to what-ever hath been contrary unto them What-ever Sufferings of his might any way advance Christ his Name Honor and Interest in the world he hath willingly undergone them and still is ready as much as in him lies in all lawful and warrantable waies to do his utmost for the raising of Christ and his Kingdome higher and higher even above the Thrones and Scepters of all that oppose him If Christ might ascend but one inch by his becoming a foot-stool to him he would joy and glory in it he
cares not how much hee decreaseth so Christ may increase No proud ambitious Haman ever sought his own honour so much as he seeks Christs his heart his whole-heart is set upon this his time his estate his parts his power and interest among men if any he hath all shall be improved this way to serve Christ let his sufferings be what they will or can be in his Name Liberty bodily Pains no Prisons scare him no sorrows whatever so Christ may gain by it Now when Conscience bears witness to this also as well as to the former particulars that this is the frame of his heart or at least that he sincerely desires and endeavours that it may be so this man I dare avouch hath a quiet Conscience a Conscience settled in a well-grounded peace and so hath no just reason to fear death SECT 7. The second Branch of a quiet Conscience namely a Conscience void of offence both towards God and towards men A Conscience void of offence towards God is a Conscience impelling and putting a man upon his utmost endeavours in all things to approve it self to God and to walk before him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto all pleasing Col. 1.10 Which the Apostle saies is to walk 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Worthy of the Lord who in all things deserves to be pleased by his own Creatures especially by man above the rest for whom he hath done more than for all the rest more than for Angels themselves Now he that upon consideration thereof doth all he can to testifie his gratitude to his most obliging God in avoiding every thing that may offend him not onely every sin but every occasion unto sin every shadow of it and so hates the very garment spotted of the flesh and also in doing whatever may be acceptable and delightful to him this man if any hath a Conscience void of offence towards God For to be sure he alwaies doth three things that none else do First He makes it his great care and study to finde out the whole will of God concerning him to understand all his Duty Secondly To practice all that hee knows thereof even to his utmost So that God himself may say of him as he did of his Servant David Act. 13.22 I have found David my Servant a man after mine own heart he shall do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all my wills and indeed herein lies the very excellency of our obedience that 't is done in compliance with and pursuance of the Divine Will and to have our own wills engaged in so doing for as 't is the will in God that an holy man chiefly looks at as the ground and great reason of his obedience so 't is the will in man that God also chiefly eyes in all he doth If there be first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a willing minde sayes the Apostle it is accepted 2 Cor. 8.12 Intimating that if this be wanting let the Duty in the matter of it or seeming performance otherwise be never so splendid and glorious yet 't is not accepted 'T will be no better than a guilded iniquity as the Lord saies to Judah by the mouth of the Prophet Jeremiah Chap. 2.22 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iniquitas tua inaurata 't is but a fine painted sin when all is done We say in Phylosophy forma dat esse 't is not the matter but the form that specificates every thing and distinguisheth it from all things else it is much more true in Divinity the heart and Soul of the man must be in every act of that obedience which pleaseth God he must be sincere in it and that universally and constantly every command must bee readily embraced and gladly obeyed and he that doth this or at least strongly desires and endeavours it is upright before and acceptable to God especially it being added in the Third place that wherein he fails 't is the great grief and sorrow of his heart that which costs him many a sigh in secret and many a tear between God and him and this briefly is to have a Conscience void of offence towards God and concerning which he can appeal to God as Job did whatever men say or think of him Job 16.19 20. Also now my witnesse is in Heaven and my Record is on high my friends scorn me but mine eye poureth out tears unto God The next thing is That 't is a Conscience void of offence towards men too When is that you 'l say When there is a great tenderness in the Conscience of doing wrong to any no not in the least and a great impulse to do to every man what is right and just and this from a principle of holiness For holiness towards God is the root upon which Righteousness towards men stands and from whence only it springs and grows And the truth is without both these Conscience cannot be good neither as a light nor as a witness nor as a Judge It can perform none of its Offices in fit manner nor due order the rule holds here as much as any where ad constituendum bonum ponenda sunt omnia requisita sed malum fit ex quolibet defectu to constitute a good thing all requisites must be present but one defect onely makes it evil Therefore the Apostle when he would describe a good Conscience puts in comprehensive words words that take all in that render it every way good Honestè bona pacatè bona good in the integrity of it good in the calmness and peaceableness of it Void of offence How large is that and void of offence towards God! how large is that too What needed hee have added any more The truth is whoever offends men and himself among others whoever interrupts his own peace brings any guilt upon his own Soul as well as doth wrong to another doth he not even therein also offend God and transgress his Law However the Apostle notwithstanding adds that also Void of offence towards men and thought it necessary to do so not onely for the more full vindication of himself before the Roman Governours to whom hee appealed but to intimate that his actions were every way such that hee durst appeal even to men also whoever they were though enemies as well as a righteous God if they would but be impartial and lay aside passion and prejudice that he was unjustly accused But this by the way onely Let 's consider what the Apostle means in this place by a Conscience void of offence towards men I conceive he doth not place it in meere moral acts of justice such as fair dealing paying every man his own giving every man his due and such like but in a pious and religious care no way to become an offence a stumbling-block or scandal to any by any dangerous opinion or evil example and that this is the Apostles sense or at least his principal meaning two things induce me to believe 1. What hee saies in the fore-going verses 14 15 where he
many ardent affections and pious ejaculations may pass from the heart to Heaven which the Devil may not know the reason of and of which alone God is witness This then is another excuse that Conscience makes for it self and 't is none of the least And yet 4. There is one more a very good one when all else is said that can be the Conscience flies to that in 1 Joh. 1.7 The blood of Christ cleanseth me from all sin So that let the Devil accuse as home and charge as deep as hee can yet here to be sure is a full answer for him an irrefragable one and such as he can never invalidate or take away the force of And in case Satan should be so impudent as to urge the matter farther and say that is true the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin but that belongs to none but a true Beleiver which you can never prove your self to be To this Conscience answers likewise and that roundly and smartly Thou lyest Devil and besides thou art no Judge in this case it comes not within thy cognisance what transactions are in my soul what mutual embraces betwixt Christ and me what acts of faith and love are in that secret place as I said before thou knowest not It doth not therefore follow it is not de non entibus de non apparentibus idem est judicium things that appear not to one that is ignorant are as if they were not Let that matter alone Devil for as cunning as thou art thou art no Judge in it it is enough that my God who alone is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the knower of the heart Acts 15.8 knows that I love him and believe in him whether thou knowest it or not Thus now we see what a good Conscience is in both the parts of it both as 't is honestè bona pacatè bona as 't is a quiet Conscience and an excusing Conscience every way void of offence both towards God and towards men and where such a Conscience is is it not a sufficient fortification against the fear of Death What is it that can be a just ground of trouble to this man That which is the most disquieting thing of all namely his sin and the guilt of it that is removed Christ hath taken it off from him What is it can be matter of terrour to him at the great Tribunal which he must one day stand before No enemy will appear against him there for God is reconciled to him and hee that shall sit there as his Judge is no other than his Redeemer And if Conscience here even in this life whose internal motions are known to none but God himself upon which ground none else but he can impose a Law upon it and oblige it be at so much ease Surely 't is from the same God that he is going to who alone can comfort or afflict the person to all eternity hereafter whose conscience he alone also can comfort or afflict in time But I hasten to answer two impertant objections which seem much to contradict all that hath been said hitherto SECT 9. Two important objections answered against the preceeding doctrine and what hath been said upon it FIrst It may be some will say shall we think that all those that are afraid or unwilling to dye are to be looked upon as persons without such a quiet and excusing Conscience or as those which have not such inward testimonies of a good estate and that in all the particulars which have been mentioned Would not this be very uncharitable to pass such a censure Yea and very unwarrantable too and against plain evidence both of Scripture and Experience Of Scripture which positively affirms Heb. 2.15 that some and those precious ones too for 't is spoken of Saints through fear of death are all their life time subject to bondage And doth not experience farther prove it almost every day How many choice Servants of Christ have met with hard struggles when they come to dye Have been willing to live yet longer if it might bee Have they not had their dreads on them Yea their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pangs and bands in their death like a woman in travel Secondly On the other hand is it not a very ordinary thing to see wicked men live and dye in peace Men as vile as prophane and deboished as any the earth hath and yet their Consciences are quiet notwithstanding they have no disturbance at all from them nor as the Psalmist saies have they any bands in their death Psal 73.4 but seem to pass out of the world as innocent as Lambs and without any fear at all upon them These are two considerable Objections indeed and must be answered and to satisfaction too least the truth before delivered bee prejudiced and shaken by it I answer therefore to both in order and first to the first objection I say three things First by way of concession I grant it that many who have indeed such a quiet and excusing Conscience a Conscience void of offence both towards God and towards men as I have been speaking of do notwithstanding dye with fears upon them and seem to be taken out of the world by violence rather than freely to go out of it and this contrary to the very precepts even of an Heathen moralist For what saies Seneca in his 104th Epistle Vir fortis sapiens exire debet è vita non trahi a wise and a valiant man ought to go readily out of this life not to be drawn And again quid est obsecro cur timeat mortem homo What is there in death considered simply in it self that a man should fear cum illâ nihil sit mali nisi quod ante ipsam est timeri the greatest evil of it is to be afraid of it before it comes Thus he even a very Heathen Well but yet for all that such is the extraordinary timidity of some persons and good ones too such is their aptness to despond partly from the natural constitution and temper of their melancholy bodies and mindes partly from the molestation of the great enemy of mankinde through Divine permission the Devil that the work of natures dissolution comes off hard with them and is a much more difficult task to them than to some others And the truth is who that is a Son or Daughter of Adam let them be never so holy and never so fit for Heaven but more or less have something of a cohorrescency of death upon them Two such old friends and so intimate as the body and the soul are loath to part It is natural for every thing to desire and seek the preservation of it self and to oppose and be afraid of that which destroys it Hence 't is that Aristotle in the third Book of his Ethicks the fixth Chapter tells us that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Death is most dreadful Thus also another Heathen Epicur Ad me nunc Apud
any breach of Gods holy and righteous Law any act that may satisfie his own evil heart be it never so foul either sees no hurt or will see none in it is willingly ignorant as the Apostle speaks in another case 2 Pet. 3.5 and to that end hates to be reformed cannot endure a soul-searching Ministry or a plain-dealing Friend that may convince him of the sinfulness of his heart and waies and so lies drowzing under a sleepy and kinde of dead Conscience or else if his Conscience doth stir at any time and begin either latrare or lacerare to barke and it may be to bite too what doth he do presently Doth he not do by this his barking and biting Conscience ready to fly in his face as a man that hath a fierce Mastiff-Dog tye him up or Muzzle him Thus he deals with his Conscience and that he may bee the less at leisure to hearken to or hear the brawlings of it is it not his common practise to go into some such company or engage in some such business or indulge himself in some such pleasure recreation or other sinful divertizement as may wholly take him off from giving any the least attendance or regard to it So long as he can keep his eyes open he is thus employed and when night comes what care doth he take either to ingorge or intoxicate himself so as he may sleep it out till day-light returns or at least that hour of it that gives him the advantage of his accustomed course of sinning with his wicked Companions day after day Thus he lives and wastes his precious time not caring or knowing how soon death may Arrest him and spoil his sport Fourthly and Lastly A regenerate person is a man Crucified to the World and the World to him He is no more moved or affected with the pleasures the delights and lying vanities of this world than a living man is pleased with the presence of a dead Wife lying by him and all the splendours grandeurs blandishments allurements and bewitchments of this world work no more upon him than upon a dead man that hath neither sense nor motion nor life in him But yet in the mean while though his heart be dead to this world world and all the fine toyes and trifles of it so as all the wealth riches gauderies and glories thereof be nothing to him yet he is so wise as to minde the things of the other world these as he highly prizeth and values them at their just rate so he earnestly seeks after them His whole business lies here namely by patient continuance in well-doing to seek for glory honour immortality eternal Life Rom. 2.7 and this being the trade hee drives every step he treads is towards Heaven and to a being made meet for the enjoyment of it Contrariwise an unregenerate person takes quite another course he is all for earth and for earthly things all for either the profits of the world if his heart be choaked with covetous cares and thoughts or for the pleasures of the world if he be a bruitish sensualist or for the honours dignities and high-places of the world if he be of a lofty and proud Spirit As for the injoyment of God or the saving of his soul they are matters too serious for him to minde mundus cum suis frivolis the frivolous World is his Idol and that he will adore though with the losse of Heaven it self and all the blisses thereof for ever which being so may we not conclude that every step he treads is towards Hell and that he is ripening apace for it Thus we see what a vast difference there is between a regenerate person and an unregenerate in their lives Let us see now what the difference is in their deaths The regenerate person 1. Hath no stings nor gaulings of Conscience his main worke is done when he comes to lye upon his dying-Bed It hath been his every daies work to set things right and to keep them so to the utmost of his endeavour betwixt God and him to get and grow up into an intire friendship with him and still to call himself to an account for every thing that might offend and with all speed to hasten to the blood of sprinkling to be washed and cleansed he would never be at rest so long as guilt remained upon his own heart or one frown in the face of God towards him But this the unregenerate person never did nor would ever by any means be perswaded to it self-Examination self-Reflexion and self-Judging were Duties which he was alwaies a stranger to these were works for an awakened and a tender Conscience which he never had nor desired to have and so now judicially is given up happily to a Conscience past feeling and that cannot be sensible of any thing 2. In case a regenerate and holy person should be under some little clouds for a while and through the malice of Satan by Divine permission be somewhat damped in his inward peace and comfort when hee is about his last work of dying yet as hath been said there is no just reason why it should be thus with him and 't is very rare that any good man or woman is long vexed thus but to be sure the storm ends at last and the rest of their passage is usually under a pleasant and fair gale God himself as I may so say sitting at the sterne and the holy Angels spreading the Sails And Oh then the calmness of their mindes the serenity of their peace the inward quiet of their souls how great is it How is not Death then at all dreadful but rather a welcome Messenger which they now look for and wonder that his Chariot wheels move no faster which blessed repose being now cast into after their buffetings and combates with Satan on a sudden they breathe forth their perfumed breath and so fall asleep in Jesus But alas How far otherwise is it with a wicked unregenerate man when he comes to this dying worke For if his Conscience be not so far seared blinded and left judicially insensible as was but even now mentioned but is let loose upon him and inabled by the God of Conscience to charge him and accuse him home If it calls all his sins to remembrance and sets them in order before him a work which sometimes God to shew his Power will assist this or that wicked mans Conscience in as himself speaks Psal 50.21 I say when once Conscience acts this part upon some obstinate and impenitent wretch and hath a commission so to do Oh then the roarings the yellings the howlings of such a Conscience How then doth death come with all its stings how doth Hell fire flash in his face with all its flames And how doth the Devil himself as 't were haunt and affright him with all his Feinds Oh now the horrors the terrors the soul-sinking over-whelming dreads that are upon him may not his Name bee now changed into magor-missabib