to accuse and condemn Rom. 2.15 Their Conscience also bearing them witness and their thoughts the mean while excusing or else accusing one another 1. If the estate and actions be or have been good Conscience is accordingly to acquit and clear This it doth 1. to and before God as its superior in judgment whom it doth 1. sometime appeal as the supream Judg. Judg me O Lord according to my righteousness and according to mine integrity that is in me Psal 7.8.26 1. And 2. sometimes it apologizeth and excuseth us to him not by extenuating our sin * Excusatio enim hic non strictiore sensu accipitur quo diminutionem vel attenuationem culpae designat sed illo quo plenam culpae reatus amotionem notat Ames but by insisting on our sincerity Lord saith Abimelech in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this Remember O Lord how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart So Hezekiah Gen. 20.5 6. Isa 38.3 This it doth also 2. from God as his substitute in the judgment from whence Conscience is by office to approve and absolve 1. To approve the good and so our hearts are assured before and we have confidence toward God 1 Joh. 3.19 21. I have finished my course saith Paul I have kept the faith Conscience approves it and so assures him Henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judg shall give me c. 2 Tim. 4.7 8. 2. To absolve from evil 1. from evils threatned by Gods laws the evil of divine indignation 1 Joh. 3.21 22 Nay saith Conscience whatever be the charges laid against him or crosses lay before him Who is he that condemneth it is God that justifieth In all these things I am more than a conquerour through him that loved me Rom. 8.31 to the end 2. â—â—rom evils thrown upon him by mens lusts the evils of humane imputations and hard censures Amidst all calumnies Conscience acquits Job and asserts his integrity Let his adversaries write a book against him he can bind their censures as a crown unto him Let them reproach him of hypocrisie Yet saith he till I die I will not remove my integrity from me My righteousness I hold fast and will not let it go My heart shall not reproach me so long as I live Job 31.5 to the end 27.5 6. 2. If the estate or actions be or have been bad Conscience is by office judicially to accuse and condemn I say judicially to accuse because it 's accusation per modum testis as a witness appertaineth to the second Proposition Thus it likewise doth 1. As to and before God to and before whom it accuseth us and causeth us to acknowledg our guilt Thus Davids heart smote him after he had numbred the people and David said unto the Lord I have sinned greatly in that I have done c. 2 Sam. 24.10 And after he had gone in to Bathsheba Against thee thee only I have sinned and done this evil in thy sight c. Psal 51.4 2. As from and under God who is greater than the Conscience So Conscience is by office 1. To convict the sinner and doth conclude it as to the sinful state and actions for which it stands arraigned before it Witness those Jews Joh. 8.9 Who were convicted by their own Consciences 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * Significat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 convincere causam eò deducere ut obijci enti praetexi nihil amplius queat Hyperius So shut up by arguments and by the authority of this Judg that they could not start from it 2. To censure and set a brand and mark of infamy upon the sin So David in the Text before 2 Sam. 24.10 I have done very foolishly And elsewhere So foolish was I and ignorant I was a beast before thee Psal 73.22 Here the least Conscience as a Judg can do is dislike and displicence with the sin and with it self for sin The evil which I do I allow not saith Paul Rom. 7.15 3. To condemn 1 Joh. 3.20 i.e. to pronounce the sentence which is a sentence of condemnation to the sinner where the estate is bad whereof is no reversal but upon repentance Act. 2.37 38. Tit. 3.11 A sentence of castigation and to contrition where the estate is good Jer. 31.19 and is still a sentence of condemnation to the sin and for the crucifying of the same whether the estate be good or bad Lam. 3.39 40 41. Secondly as it respects time future and what is to be Thus Conscience is by office in particular not only 1. to tell us or hold forth what is right and what is wrong what is good and what is evil to us in particular agreeable to the general law in the first Proposition But 2. to tye and oblige us respectively to that evil and to this good agreeably still to the same law in the same proposition And 3. to thrust forward excite or impell us for the avoiding of that evil and for the attaining or doing of this good with accord still to that general light or law In relation to these Offices the holy Scriptures speaks of the Conscientious man as one stirred as one bound as one pressed in his own spirit Act. 17.16 18.5.20 22. He is not only a debtor Rom. 1.14 But there is a necessity upon him as from Gods command so from his own Conscience He is constrained and cannot chuse unless he should offer violence to his own Conscience but do what his Conscience dictates 1 Cor. 9 16. 2 Cor. 5.14 Act. 4.20 I am not ignorant that these three last Offices of Conscience are commonly placed elsewhere and conceived to appertain rather to the first Proposition But in that Conscience doth therein dictate but the general right or law and these acts do evidently include a particular respect and application to a mans own estate or action and this conclusive as to his estate and action As the operation of Conscience aforesaid doth obviously witness I do therefore rather chuse to place them here Not that I blame others for the liberty which they please to take nor shall bind up my self strictly this order in the progress of this Discourse Q. 7. How may and should we so order our Conscience in relation to the first Proposition that they offer us true and right Laws and Rules and none but such concerning our estates * See Q. 3. Direct 1. in Chap. 3. and actions To this end it is necessary that you 1. Direct 1 Store your Conscience that she have a stock and treasury of knowledg a bank and habit of all necessary laws and rules of practice that as a scribe instructed to the Kingdom she may bring forth out of her treasury things both new and old as any occasion offers For how shall she be able to give rules if she hath them not or teach you if her self be untaught
to have that he pluck it away also and that he punish this violence and their voluntary resistance with a final remorslesness Psal 51.10 1 Tim. 1.19 Jer. 9.3 Rom. 1.28 9. Inordinate cares shame and fears which overcharge Conscience and are offended with the Cross You must expect contempt and to endure the Cross if you will exercise and enjoy a good Conscience shame and fear decline those and you must therefore decline these divert them rather upon their proper Objects Be ashamed and afraid of sin as the greatest evil and of losing the sight and salvation of God who is the greatest good as you are advised by the Apostle for having a good Conscience 1 Pet. 3.14 15 16. c. 4.12 13 16. 'T is no matter of shame or fear to suffer for Conscience 't is a fearful thing indeed to suffer in or from Conscience But â—â—o this is thank-worthy an expression beyond any other in all the Bible if a man for Conscience toward God endure grief suffering wrongfully 1 Pet. 2.19 Secondly There are some things to be done If you would ensure the custody of a good Conscience 1. Employ your strictest care Sin and Satan lay their main Batteries against this the good Conscience is the grand Citadel of a gracious Christian get this and they get all keep this and ye keep all You are proportionably concerned to preserve the outer guards in your Conversations but you are principally concerned to preserve the inner and main guard of your Conscience Keep this and it will keep thee But remember as it was not gotten idly so neither is it kept but with industry Keep thy heart with diligence nay with all diligence and above all keeping and good reason for out of it are the issues of life Prov. 2.10 11. c. 4.20 21 23. 2. Extend this care to all the sorts and kinds of a good Conscience To the pure peaceable sincere soft and tender Conscience c. and touching which we shall instruct hereafter yea and to the whole circuit and compass of Conscience Take a prospect of every part in every proposition that it may be good both as a Rule and as a Witness and as a Judg Of which also you may expect in the ensuing parts of this Discourse 3. Hear Conscience Conscience hath a voice within you as well as Christ in his Word without you a voice * of correction in case of evil Why art thou cast down O my soul c Psal 43.5 A voice of counsel and direction for continuance and growth in good as David's had My reins also instruct me in the night-season Psal 16.7 Hear counsel then and receive instruction that thou mayst be wise in the latter end Conscience never hardens till it is not heard the more attention is given by you the more authority is gained to it and the better advise it giveth to you Attend the directions and discourse of Conscience then as Joseph and Nehemiah did who thereby kept an unspotted Conscience amidst all aspersions and calumnies Prov. 19.20 Gen. 39.9 Neh. 6.11 4. Estate it often by its Copy or Original rather the Holy Scriptures These are the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the prime rule and standard by which you must pass and square Conscience Christians must write them a Copy of this Law in the Book of Conscience if they would be kept incorrupt and from crooked ways and examine this exscript often by that as the Kings of Israel must Conscience is to be instead of a mouth to Scriptures as Aaron was to Moses but the Scripture is to be instead of a God to Conscience as Moses was to Aaron Deut. 17.17 18 19. Exod. 4.16 Conscience is to every man as his Book as Bernard * Vnicuique suus libeâ— est conscientiu Conferamus itaque libros nostroscum librovitae ne fortè in illa ultima discussione abjiciantur si non fuerint emendati De Cons l. 1. c. 9. well observeth but such as must be examined by the Bible compared with and corrected by it Order my steps in thy Word saith David Thy Testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors Psal 119.133 24. Order Conscience by this through all its offices and proceeds Is Conscience a rule The Word must be the Regula regulans Conscience is but Regula regulata Conscience must take the rule from Christ in his Word and then give it to the Christian for the weighing of his Estate and Actions The Word is the lamp for the feet and light for the paths Psal 119.105 Is Conscience a witness If you look that it witness the Truth and in truth have it to the Law and to the Testimony Isa 8.20 Is Conscience a Judg If you would have it judg righteous judgment away with it to the Word of Righteousness which shall judg you in the last day Joh. 12.48 5. Engage the choice and constant resolutions of your wills It is well with Conscience while the Will is constant and cleaves unto God with full purpose let the Will be preserved steady and its welfare will be preserved in safety The weal of Conscience much-what follows the Will 's choice and when this is found divided that is faulty and diseased Act. 11.23 Hos 10.2 'T is said 1 Tim. 1.19 they put away a good Conscience and concerning Faith made ship-wrack Their loss did not arise as from its next cause from other's violence but their own voluntariness Satan seducers sufferings could never have pulled it away if they themselves had not put it away They made ship-wrack rather than endured ship-wrack Well then if you would still have a good Conscience be willing in all things to live honestly Heb. 13.18 6. Eye God's all-seeing knowledg Let thy Conscience keep its eye upon God who keepeth his eye upon thy Conscience Set the Lord alway before thy face with David and set thy self always before the face of the Lord with Paul As of God as in the sight of God so steer thy whole course Keep thy Conscience on God and God will keep thy Conscience who hath said Walk before me and be thou perfect Psal 16.8 2 Cor. 2.17 Gen. 17.1 Conscience is a knowledg together with the Lord look to it then in every creek and turn of thy life Doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it and he that keepeth thy soul doth not he know it Prov. 24.12 Psal 44.21 The prospect David took of Gods omniscient knowledg preserved a tender gracious and holy Conscience Psal 139. I have kept his precepts and thy testimonies saith he elsewhere for all my ways are before thee Eye him that is invisible with Moses whose eye is upon all thy goings Tell Conscience as Laban told Jacob No man is with us But see God is witness betwixt me and thee And forget not his Mizpah that is a Beacon or Watch-tower and say to it with him The Lord watch between me and thee when we are absent one from another Psal 119.168 Heb. 11.27 Gen. 31.49 50.
them Prov. 4.23 Mat. 26.41 Prov. 22.5 3. Close with her Testimony though she speak against thee Let not thy Affections kick and thy Will cast it back upon Conscience to give a more favourable witness for thee 'T is better Conscience should be a severe Witness here than a never-dying Worm hereafter The more fully and faithfully she testifieth the more friendly is she and the more it turneth to thy felicity Faithful are the wounds of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful Psal 141.5 Prov. 27.6 4 Let Conscience be told ever and anon of the Testimony she must deliver in the day of Judgment Then the Books shall be opened the Book of Conscience within as well as of Creatures and Scriptures without Then must thou shalt thou O my Conscience give a plain and impartial Testimony to all things done in the body Then all thy frauds and fallacies which thou now puttest upon me shall be unvailed and pluckt off before God Men and Angels Then shalt thou bear the shame of them and must suffer for them Thy flatteries and unfaithfulness shall be all laid bare and open Oh how much better were it for thee and me to bring forth thy righteous Testimony now to our Conversion than in that day to our Confusion Alas what can be hid from him who knoweth all things Doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it Thou mayst deceive me but canst thou deceive my God also That day shall discover it If thou fearest the shame and sting of such a Witness in this day shouldst not thou rather fear and fly the shame and sting thereof in that day Now it may be eased and healed by Repentance Defer thy Testimony till then and the shame and torment will be easless endless and remediless Rev. 20.12 2 Cor. 5.10 Eccles 12.14 Mar. 9.44 5 Let Conscience be demanded to give her Witness as in the presence of God the great Judg. Charge her to speak to thee as she would speak to and before him Is not the answer of a good Conscience towards God O my Conscience is not God greater than thy self and knoweth all things Wilt thou witness this thing to God for me as Peter's did Thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee And canst thou appeal him as a Witness in the case with and for thee as he also did Canst thou attest him as they did Josh 22.21 22. The Lord God of Gods the Lord God of Gods he knoweth Canst thou say and say truly Behold my witness is in heaven and my record is on high as Job did And wilt thou answer to him for me what thou now answerest me as before him Lo O Lord thou knowest Thou O Lord knowest me thou hast seen me and tried mine heart Thou hast tried me and shalt find nothing Thou knowest that I am not wicked 1 Pet. 3.21 1 Joh. 3.20 Joh. 21.15 17. Job 16.19 Psal 40.9 Jer. 12.3 Psal 17.3 Job 10.7 Direct 3. Touching the Conclusion wherein Conscience is to denounce the sentence upon the trial made agreeable to the truth she dictateth in the Proposition and to the testimony which she delivereth in the Assumption Here I advise 1 See that Conscience pronounce the sentence upon thee Or why are all these proceeds hitherto Why are 1. the word and statutes of Heaven consulted 2. The Court set 3. The Witness sworn and heard Shall the Records of Heaven be produced and the Records of my Heart proved to no purpose Hast thou done so many things O my Conscience in vain if it shall be yet in vain But because Conscience is so prone to protract the sentence and to forbear the conclusion which should follow upon the Premisses and doth naturally and necessary follow upon the Proposition and Assumption in a Logical discourse as one well observeth * See Ames de Consc l. 1. c. 9. §. 5. 10. I advise these things 1. If Conscience be silent suspect thy condition is not well or that at least it is not well with Conscience I shall not say that her suspending of the Conclusion doth always speak the condition and state of the Soul to be a state of sin Because deserted Saints through the power of fear and temptations and the weakness of their faith in such troubles may not be able to derive and draw it down to themselves But ordinarily and out of the case of desertion it speaks the condition ill and lyable to suspition 'T was not well with David when he turns the conclusion and sentence to another which he should have taken to himself and the Prophet was fain to take up the office of Conscience and tell him Thou art the man c. He cannot be apprehended to have been either ignorant of God's Law or of his own lascivious and murtherous fact But Conscience did not conclude or argue and apply it home And it was very ill with them who knowing the judgment of God that they who did such things were worthy of death and that they did them yet concluded not their estate upon it but continued in their sin Nor was their condition safe or Conscience sound that could wave the Conclusion when the Premisses were so clear Neither say they in their heart let us now fear the Lord c. Jer. 5.23 24. 2 Sam. 12.5 6 7. Rom. 1.32 2. If Conscience do not speak to thee do thou speak to Conscience God complaineth when men do not set and say to their hearts when they do not call upon and converse with them Isa 44.19 Hos 7.2 Argue it with her and urge her to proceed to sentence and to perfect her discourse in giving judgment Urge her by her past proceeds of which before By her place and power Hath not God made thee a Judg in Israel set thee next under himself and over me that thou shouldst shew me the sentence in judgment Is not thy commission Divine His concurrence declared who is with you in the judgment to behold if thou judgest falsly to approve if thy judgment be according to verity Deut. 17.9 2 Chron. 19.6 1 Joh. 3.20 21. By her Precedency Thou expectest from inferiour Judges that they proceed to judgment and wilt expostulate and rebuke them if they shall adventure to retard it and judgment goeth not forth Thou art superiour to any to all of them God hath set thee as Solomon set his Mother next himself on the Throne And if thou shalt clear no matter if they all condemn me But if thou condemn not all of them can quit me May not they dare to adventure upon unnecessary delays in Civil concernments and durst thou to delay and defer the sentence in Spiritual in Soul-matters and of eternal consequence Deut. 16.18 19 20. Hab. 1.4 1 King 2.19 Rom. 8.33 c. 1 Joh. 3.20 By her Principles Civil Judges have severals to consult without them ere they can come to sentence But thou O my Conscience containest all within thee whereby thou mayst be
her of which Q. 4. God hath surrogated and set her up 1. To be a law-giver from him imploy her in the study and revelation of what his laws are and your lives should be and see that you receive the truths she dictateth from him 2. To be a witness for and with him Imploy her in the observation and report of his works and your ways and see that you refuse not the testimony she delivereth for him 3. To be a judg under him Imploy her in the search and determining of your condition and see you remove not the sentence which she receiveth from him while you remain in this condition Rom. 2.14 15. Joh. 8.9 2 Cor. 5.11 4. In a befittingness and accord to God who hath invested men with it and imprinted his mind upon it 1. In accord to his work herein Men should not call their concupiscence humour lust illusion contumaciousness by the precious name of Conscience It reflects disparagement and an odium to its divine rise and original 2. In accord to his worth If Conscience be implanted in you by him she is inferiour to him and should not impose upon you against or above his commission She is then under the rule and authority of him and must render an account to him 3. In accord to his will as may best express his superiority over her his similitude upon her and best exemplifie those sacred instructions which he hath left upon record concerning her 5. Beyond and above all for him If Conscience be first implanted by him she should be finally imployed for him 'T is a sordid employment to put Conscience upon the palliation or extenuating of a mans corruption or upon the provision and erecting of a mans credit c. And 't is a sorry end to determine her high-bôrn operations within the narrow confines of the object sense or of a mans felf If she be of an higher efficient she should be busied for an higher end Her acts and answers should be all towards God 1 Pet. 2.19.3.21 Men should study to approve their Conscience to him to assure their Conscience before him and to advance and celebrate him by all the elicit and imperate acts of their Conscience 2 Cor. 5.9 11. 1 Joh. 3.19 Psal 34.1 2 3. 6. So as to behold and steadily own whatsoever truths he hath ordered out for man's knowledg and observation by implanting him with a Conscience And the more eminent any of them are the more firm should be mans assent to them and the more full and vigorous his adherence to and asserting of them Q. 3. What great truths may every man know and gather up from hence that there is a Conscience in him Among and above others every man may hence know and infallibly conclude these ensuing verities Is there a Conscience in every man then let every man 1. Behold a Deity * Conscientia optimus testis divinatis Tert. lib. de testim animae That which may be known of God is manifest in them from within as well as manifest to them from without so far at least as will render them inexcusable in sin though not as far as may be requisite and effectual to Salvation The eternal power and Godhead are written in lively and legible Characters not only upon the Creatures but in the Conscience enough to convince the Atheist and whereby he may arrive to the knowledg both that he is and to a good degree what he is also Rom. 1.19.20 2.14 15 The several truths which are conserved in the Conscience doth she not dictate as the will of God The special testimonies the Spirit communicateth doth she not declare as a witness for and with God The sentence and judgment wherewith the Spirit concludeth doth she not deliver as a substitute from as the sentence of God I need no other evidence for this than your own experiences which do plainly enough acquaint you that all the offices Conscience doth discharge are done under and for God and that the obligation she infers is as from so by God So that the being and acts of Conscience are both a pregnant proof that there is a God and do powerfully perswade men to acknowledg his Government and ascribe him worship and glory 2. Behold the Doctrine of Eternity rewards of good and evil that extend beyond death and all duration of time Behold your Consciences do not confine themselves in their converses with you within the narrow limits of mortality They carry engraven on them an immortal state with accord to the immortality of your Souls and by the prospect of this they inhibit and restrain from vice instigate and rouze us to vertue refresh mens hopes at one time and raise fears and torments at another Manifest it is that Conscience principally restrains and rules by the hopes and fears of a future immortality of glory and misery And if there were no such thing her government should be for the most part frivolous and delusory 2. Gods giving her to many persons would be vain and unnecessary for how should she contain armed force or artificial fraud within the bounds of duty when the one can sin safely beyond the punishments of this life and the other secretly Besides 3. her glory in being thus capacitated and raised above the brute Creatures would be hers and our shame and misery and render her and us beneath them while her hopes she ruleth by are frustrate and her fears are vexing which are things utterly to be rejected by all rational men 3. Behold a Dooms-day or day of judgment If every man hath a Conscience then every man must give an accompt and come to judgment and necessary it is that the several judgments of Conscience may be set right and the secrets of Conscience may be revealed and set open Rom. 2.12 17. 1 Cor. 4.5 Conscience is praejudicium judicii as Tertullian well 'T is an Emblem and evidence of the day of judgment Conscience keeps many a Court before hand as a Judg but lo she conducts men as by the hand to a more solemn and supream judgment Yea how often doth she cite men hither and arrest men from hence So that Paul preaching of Judgment maketh even a Pagan Judg to tremble Act. 24.25 Plain it is that the judgment of Conscience refers higher and reminds men often of a more impartial Judg and Judicature that is future and certain Conscience contains the records of Gods Laws and mens lives as a Book Here men often keep this Book clasped and sealed but the righteousness of God in and for the reward of men requireth that the Books be and they shall be opened Revel 20.12 Conscience is the Candle of the Lord searching yea and shewing what men are and have done as a witness whose work it is to give evidence in judgment Here men sometimes baffle at other times bribe this witness It shall therefore be brought into an open and impartial Court where it may neither be flattered nor
be done by My Conscience tells me such and such things must be done which are matters of general right and equity And they that deny such clear and commonly received laws of general right are in common speech said to offer violence to their Consciences So my Conscience tells me such and such matters may be declined and forborn which are matters of indifferency 'T is true there is no small difference between the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the conservation of such laws and rules and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Conscience strictly so called * See Baldw. Cas Cons l. 1. c 4. But I must follow the vulgar usage and sense of this term as most fitting my design There is an habit bank and treasury of light and laws with Conscience and which it conserves Here is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is the application of them had and made by Conscience here is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The second and third Propositions still make application of some general law or rule had in the first Proposition to a mans particular estate or actions Thus it is the office of Conscience to apply general Propositions and Canons to a mans personal and particular case and concern And indeed the Thomists * Aquin. Sum. 1. q. 79. a. 13 do make Conscience to be nothing else but an application of the knowledg or light which is in the Synteresis and therefore define it to be an act Though to speak properly as one * Sanders Prael 1. de Consc §. 14. observeth the application of science is not Conscience it self but an act of it And as another * Rutherf libert of Consc c. 1. p. 6. saith 'T is the same Conscience that acts all three parts of a law of a witness and of a judg The second Propofition contains the direct testimony of Conscience and with respect to this the office of Conscience in general is that of a witness Thus Paul suggests of his own and touching the Conscience of the Gentiles My Conscience also bearing me witness Rom. 9.1 Their Consciences also bearing witness Rom. 2.15 The witness of Conscience may be either considered 1. as it is in habit and rests upon record Or 2. as it is in act or is reduced thereunto which is by two steps 1. Conscience casts back a reflection upon its own records of our estate and actions and considers and ruminates upon them And then 2. Conscience comes forth and reports to us how the case now stands or hath stood agreeable to those records and to this reflection The office or act of Conscience then in respect of the second Proposition is threefold 1. To register and book down what a man is and doth And in truth Conscience is as one * Sheffield good Cons c. 4. p. 52. well the great Register and Recorder of the world It hath the pen of a ready writer Not a word from the mouth not a work of man not a thought of the mind can escape or pass its swift pen. It is Gods Historian saith Dr. Reynolds * Of the Passions c. 41. that writes not Annals but Journals Conscience hath its book and had its table whereon it did indelebly write both the sins of Judah and the sincerity of Job Rev. 20.12 Jer. 17.1 Job 27.6 2. To reflect and bring back to the heart as the expression of Solomon is in the margin of 1 King 8.47 Conscience is to every man not only as his private Notary but as his petty-Constable to search into and seize upon every miscarrying act and habit Conscience reviews its register recalls and reads over its records Here are those sayings in and sayings to the heart that Scripture and experience tell us of Jer. 5.24 Hos 7.2 marg Those communings with our hearts and calling upon our own actions and estates those countings and self-searches how the case stands Psal 4.4.77.6 Herewith Conscience comparing our past actions and intentions with the Canons and rules conserved in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ruminates and bethinks according to the case and concern before it Conscience considers the matter I considered in my heart saith the Preacher or I gave or set to my heart Hebr. Eccles 9.1 Conscience is not only to consult its books or cast back an eye but to consider the affair before it attentively Now therefore thus saith the Lord of Hostes consider your ways Hebr. Set your heart on your ways Hag. 1.5.7 Here are those layings to heart we read of in the Prophets Jer. 5.24 Mal. 2.2 3. To report and bring forth its testimony according as the matter hath been or is Thus Conscience in Josephs Brethren had taken and bookt down their sin after this turns back and tells them of it and of the circumstances wherewith Conscience considered it to be aggravated We saw the anguish of his Soul and we would not hear c. Gen. 42.21 22. Conscience in Pharaohs Butler had recorded did recall rip up and read him his faults Gen. 41.9 David Job and Paul are contumeliously censured and cried out upon Conscience casts back a reflection consults its own records considers their uprightness and the others reproaches and cleareth up their righteousness Psal 7.3 4. Job 27.5 6 c. 2 Cor. 1.12 As this is the office of Conscience to give testimony in relation to what is past so also in relation to what is present Conscience witnesseth both 1. what we are or what our estate is The spirit witnesseth with our spirits that we are the Sons of God Rom. 8.16 2. And what we act or what our actions are Witness Pauls example I speak the truth in Christ I lye not my Conscience also bearing me witness Rom. 9.1 3. And whatever you are or intend Psal 17.3 2 Cor. 1.17 The third Proposition contains the decisive judgment of Conscience and with respect to this most properly and strictly the office of Conscience is to judg If we would judg our selves we should not be judged 1 Cor. 11.31 Confcience is herein judicially to apply the truth dictated in the first Proposition upon the testimony delivered in the second Proposition and doth infer the Conclusion from those premises according to its apprehension of the rule or law in the first or major Proposition and according to its attestation and report of our life or actions in the second or minor Proposition The judgment conscience pronounceth sometimes respects our estate and sometimes respecteth our actions and both of them either 1. as good or else 2. as evil And thus again either 1. as it respects the time past or present or else 2. as it respects the time future either as they have formerly been or now are or henceforth should be First as it respects the time past and present The office of Conscience in regard of what is and hath been good is to acquit and clear In regard of what is and hath been evil it 's
the wounds of such a friend than in the kisses of such as flatter For by this thou dost encourage her now and invite her for hereafter and shalt henceforth enjoy more of thy self and of her society He that heareth reproof getteth understanding Heb. possesseth an heart Prov. 15.32 Be not of those that can reflect on a mote in their brother's eye but not on a beam if in their own eye The more censorious abroad the more blind or at best blear-eyed will Conscience be at â—ome The kind treatments of a self-reflecting Conscience will produce most circumspection in her and most compassion towards others Mat. 7.3 4. Gal. 6.1 3. Welcome her reflections there is not so much vinegar as oyl in them If she chideth reproveth 't is but like Jeremy to keep thee from ruin Therefore do not smite her and put her in prison as Pashur did by that Prophet She may so forbear reflecting and for a while fall to remorslesness But assure thy self if she forbears thee now 't is to fetch a greater blow at thee hereafter Jer. 20.2 Rom. 1.28 5. Direct 5 Stir up thy Conscience if she be remiss speak to her if she be silent towards thee 1. There are some speaking providences that invite her to reflect and do suggest matter suffer her not to break from these Who knoweth but they may be as prosperous to you as they were to Joseph's Brethren and Pharaoh's Butler Gen. 42.21 cum 7. c. 41.9 cum 8. 2. There are some speaking portions of Scriptures and Sermons that enlighten her for reflecting and are a special means Do not baffle with these For how knoweth thou but there may be the same spiritual and saving effect obtained oâ— thee as hath been on others Heb. 4.12 1 Cor. 14.24 25. 3. There be many speaking perswasives to enduce and engage thee to reflect and serve for motives do not baulk these I have set many before you already and shall only subjoyn these 1. God seeth whether thou dallyest in it and his revenge wiâ—â— be severe if thou dost not reflect in season Psal 50.21 22. Jer. 8.6 c. Hos 7.2 2. 'T is a grievous sin to decline it thou dost not act like a man thou art brutish in thy knowledg yea below the brutes 't is not only vanity but a sore travel Isa 1.3 Eccles 4.8 3. What good success mayst thou arrive to by diligence Davids reflection ended in his reformation Pauls in eminent rejoycing the Jews in the reception of their prapers remission and pardon of their sins and restoring of them into signal favour both with God and man Psal 119.59 2 Cor. 1.12 1 King 8.47 51. Q. 11. How manifold is Conscience The definition of Conscience being dispatcht the distribution regularly follows to be next enquired into Herein I may not be too nice or acurate but attending the design of a practical Casuist I shall accordingly guide my self in the distribution hereof Thus more generally as both common experience and clear Scripture evidence instruct us There is 1 the good Conscience Heb. 13.18 1 Pet. 3.16 21. 2 The evil Conscience Heb. 10.22 The good and evil conscience may be considered and distributed either 1 according to the stated habitude Or 2 according to the several acts of mens Consciences First if we consider the state or according to the stated habitude of mens Consciences so the Conscience may be called good or evil either 1 in an ethical and moral Or 2 in an Evangelical and Spiritual sense 1. Ethically good or good upon a common account so is the Conscience which from a principle of moral righteousness is habitually disposed toward and actually dischargeth its offices according to Ethical or Moral principles In this sense many Pagans had and Paul before his Conversion was not without a good Conscience Act. 23.1 I have lived in all good Conscience before God until this day i.e. I have lived up to the light of my Conscience Or as the Dutch Annotators * Ad locum I have served God uprightly i.e. without hypocrisie according to the knowledg I had 2. Evangelically good or good upon the Christian account so only is that Conscience which from a spiritual principle of renovation is habitually disposed toward and actually dischargeth its offices according to evangelical principles Paul therefore incloseth this between charity out of a pure heart and faith unfeigned 1 Tim. 1.5 Let me add that the same Conscience as that of Paul before his effectual calling and as is commonly found in Moral persons which we may and do call good sensu ethico in an ethick sense we must call an evil Conscience sensu Evangelico in an Evangelical sense For so still it is an evil Conscience till it be purged from dead works by the blood of Christ to serve the living God Heb. 9.14 10 22. There is a double goodness found with the Conscience evangelically good a goodness of purity and a goodness of peace or a goodness of sincerity and of security as a practical Writer of ours speaketh * Sheffield Good Cons c. â— p. 26. Or a goodness of integrity and of tranquillity as another * Dykes Good Cons p. 20. See Ames de Consc l. 1. c. 12. Hence there is 1 the purified or pure Conscience instanced 2 Tim. 1.3 And 2 the pacified or peaceable Conscience intimated Phil. 4.7 Opposite to this double goodness of Conscience there is a double evil of defilement to sin habitual and allowed and 2. of distress to sorrow and anguish of heart Accordingly there is 1 the defiled Conscience propounded Tit. 1.15 And 2 the disquiet Conscience pointed at Prov. 12.25 It must be herewith remembred that neither this twofold evil nor that twofold goodness do always co-exist in the same Conscience There may be purity yet no peace and peace of Conscience such as it is yet no purity There may be an habitually impure or defiled Conscience which yet is not distressed And there may be a distressed Conscience which is not habitually impure or defiled as will be seen in the further progress of this discourse Oh happy conjunction when both goodnesses of peace and of purity of sincerity and of security do meet in the fame Conscience * Faelix conscientiâ— in qua osculatae sunt pax justitia Bern. de inter dom Happy when both evils of defilement and of distress of transgression and of trouble are cast out and kept out of the doors of Confcience together Secondly the good and evil Conscience may be distributed according to the several acts of Conscience viz. Either 1. as it apprehends and dictates matters of law or right where by it cometh to an issue in judgment Or 2. as it applys and draws them down to the matter before it for judgment Both which it doth either firmly and strongly or but feebly and weakly Agreeable whereunto there is 1 the weak and infirm Conscience And 2 the well-inabled firm or strong Conscience Of
both clear and quick or expeditious in the judgment Thou needst not call for Law-books or foreign Witnesses With thee is a treasury of Laws and thou art more than a thousand Witnesses 3. If Conscience yet suspends judgment cite her before the supream Judg. Behold Conscience the Judg standeth before the door He is greater than the Conscience to him thou must accompt Thou mayst apologize to me but how wilt thou answer it to him who made thee his deputy and substituted thee upon this very design And hath said to Conscience as Jehoshaphat to his Judges Take heed what ye do for ye judg not for man but for the Lord who is with you in the judgment Wherefore take heed and do it Jam. 5.9 1 Joh. 30.20 2 Chron. 19.5 6 7. 2 See that Conscience pronounce the sentence fully and clearly upon thee An half-sentence can give but half-satisfaction If the sentence be dubious thy Soul will still be in the dark Why all this pains Not for airy hopes but for assurance of the heart before God 1 Joh. 3.19 To this end 1. Be full and clear with Conscience in exposing all thou art and dost to her sentence without any of the restraints of self-love without any reserve for any secret lusts Self-love will be putting in for her immunities A clear and impartial sentence will shake all her foundations hitherto of quiet and self-ease And therefore importuneth Conscience as David sometime did his chief Commanders Deal gently for my sake yea and for thy own sake for thou must sustain the effects of such a sentence 2 Tim. 3.2 cum 5. 2 Sam. 18.5 Secret lusts will be putting in for an indemnity which it may be Conscience hath cockered or at least hitherto connived at Wherefore should we be slain Have not we took sweet counsel together and walked to the house of God in company c. But Conscience must quit them ere it can clear thec 'T will be a partial sentence if she parteth not with these sins Or if she speak peace it will be but the shew and paint of it so long as ye will walk after the imagination of your own hearts Psal 19.12 13. 18.23 Deut. 29.19 Bring all then before the Bar of Conscience and that Bar without any vails or coverts and tell her as Cornelius told Peter we are all here present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God Act. 10.33 2. Be free yet close with Conscience You may remember her there will be another audit and what will attend if she shall give a loose or partial judgment Cursed be he that perverteth judgment But remember her withal that therefore this thy appearance is made before her throne of Judicature and thou demandest it as thy right not as a matter of courtesie from her but as of debt and duty As of old it was ordained Thou shalt come to the Judg and enquire and he shall shew thee the sentence of judgment Deut. 27.19 c. 17.9 See thou do not see her by any carnal indulgence for a gift blindeth the eyes of the wise and perverteth the words of righteousness and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery Deut. 16.19 Job 15.34 Nor flatter her by any corrupt inducements The flattering mouth worketh ruin Psal 36.2 Prov. 26.28 Be plain with Conscience Lo I have now put my self my state my salvation upon thy sentence 'T is thy work to condemn or clear me thy eternal wo or weal is concerned in it I require thee as before the supream and all-seeing Judg to judg righteously I do not sollicite for favour but seek justice at thy mouth How long shall I take counsel in my soul When wilt thou bring it to a conclusion that I may know my estate what I am Follow her with arguments and importunities till she answereth thee in the words of the Psalmist I will judg uprightly Psal 75.2 Q. 4. How may we difference the Peace of a good and of an evil Conscience and so discern that ours is a sound and an Evangelical Peace Doubtless there is a difference * See Fenner's Treat of Consc p. 137. to 167. Robinsons Christ all in all p. 187 188 Collin's right way to true peace p. 51. ad 62. or our Saviour had not delivered it as he doth Joh. 14.27 cum 22. But he that would drive this nail to the head for the discovery of his own peace whether it be true or false should discuss it thorowly with his own Conscience how it came to take up this peace The peace that an evil Conscience bears groweth usually out of one of these two roots 1. Either out of the sluggishness of Conscience that puts not the estate upon trial 2. Or from the shifts and unfaithfulness of Conscience if it proceed to trial 1. Fither in the Proposition 2. Or in the Assumption 3. Or in the Conclusion as hath been shewed You should dig to the very bottom in this business Whether this peace be the product of pains prayers and of proving your hearts and states once and again What pains did Conscience take in it What proceed did Conscience make in it Did it give full and infallible marks for the trial of your estates Did it give a faithful and impartial testimony in the trial And did it give a free and unbiassed judgment upon the trial of your estates Produce and prove thy Evidences That your enmity against godliness is turned into peace and therewith amity That you are as earnest for holiness as you were for sin or are for happiness and as great a friend to the purity as to the peace of Conscience Prove that the spirit of peace hath renewed and sanctified you That the Prince of Peace Christ Jesus ruleth in and hath the Soveraignty over you That the God of peace is related as a Father to you and is that supream good and end to whom you finally refer your selves in point of felicity and duty and then your peace which is gathered from these Premisses is proved therewith to be true pious and Evangelical But to give you the difference enquired after though every thing I herewith offer doth not serve to discover it effectually in such a practical inquiry without some further reference The Evangelical peace of the good Conscience and the quiet or peace of an evil Conscience are different 1. In the eminency of this Evangelical Peace 1. In point of truth That other is but the shadow and semblance of peace but this is solid substantial peace 'T is peace peace Isa 26.3 c. 57.19 not only the resemblance or appearance of peace but real rich assured abundant peace But there is no peace saith my God unto the wicked ver 21. Isa 48.22 Let men call it by the title of peace yet God accounts it to be in truth no peace 2 In point of tranquillity That other is mostly but negative a freedom from storms but this is positive a fulness of serenity There
See thou do not baffle with or break from him Quench none of his motions be they never so strict or seem they never so severe They all tend to grace they all end in peace And though he be as yet a spirit of bondage to fear it is not to exulcerate Conscience more sharply but to heal it the more soundly and that he may be a spirit of adoption to thee whereby thou maist cry Abba father 1 Thes 5.19 Isa 61.1 Rom. 8.15 2 Attend his ways before thee not only his ways in the Sanctuary without thee in the means of grace as praying hearing c. but his ways that are more spiritual within thee in the motions of grace and minding of Spiritual and gracious matters The less spiritual-mindedness the less serenity of mind What blustrings are there here beneath But above 't is all in an happy tranquility There are no tempests or thundrings in the upper region Call up thy Conscience and its Colleagues thither and keep them conversant about spiritual and heavenly Objects and thou shalt then soon know what is the communion of the Spirit and what these suavities of Conscience are To be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually is life and peace Phil. 3.20 21. cum 18 19. Col. 1.9 10. Rom. 8.5 6. 3 Attend the witness of the Spirit in and with thee It is the Spirit that beareth witness saith the Apostle 1 Joh. 5.6 Which he doth not only externally in the Scriptures but internally to and with our spirits 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 8.16 A single witness under the law was of no moment But at the mouth of two witnesses shall the matter be established Deut. 19.15 Jo. 8.17 Lo two witnesses are tendered upon the case to clear it God's spirit and our spirit both of them needful and useful to testifie the things of God and the things of man For what man knoweth the things of man save the spirit of man which is in him Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God 1 Cor. 3.11 The spirit witnesseth to and with our spirit or Conscience in and throughout its whole argumentation and progress whereupon it concludeth its peace E. g. All those that with child-like appretiation affiance and affections can cry Abba father are the children of God But I can with a child-like appretiation affiance and affections cry Abba father Therefore I am a child of God Rom. 8.15 16. The Spirit witnesseth with my Spirit 1. To the truth of the Proposition by an internal manitestation or revelation of that truth to the mind whereof he hath already made an outward revelation in the Scriptures Joh. 14.26 Psal 119.18 2. To the truth of the Assumption by irradiating the Conscience and enabling her in and upon the reflections she maketh to apprehend feel and descry such appretiations and affections in me or whatsoever other mark or medium I am making use of to clear up my estate thereby Eph. 1.17 18. 1 Cor. 2.12 14. 3. To the truth of the Conclusion not only by strengthning her to conclude my state and condition from such appretiations and affections but by shedding abroad such beams of joy and comfort as confirm me therein and seal it up unto my soul 1 Cor. 2.9 10. Rom. 5.5 Eph. 1.13 c. 4.30 Though you must not attend for an external audible testimony from the Spirit * See Hollingw Hol. Ghost on the bench p. 74 75. Ball 's Lif of Faith p. 79. which was never promised and hardly if ever pattern'd Yet you may and must attend for the internal and effectual testimony of the Spirit in effecting exciting heightning and evidencing of his own graces to and in you and in the effusion of the love of God and of his joy upon you which is called the joy in and of the Holy Ghost and is the companion of peace of Conscience Rom. 14.17 1 Thes 1.5 6. Let me only add Thou must not expect as if the Spirit would or could witness peace to thee before it hath wrought grace in thee For its testifying peace to the Conscience is by testifying the truth of thy grace and closing with Christ Thou must first set thy scal to the truth of God in the reception of his testimony by faith in his Son ere the Spirit of truth will seal thee up to the day of redemption Joh. 3.33 cum Eph. 4.30 2 Cor. 1.22 In whom after that ye believed * Quasi dicat non citiùs nec ante sed post sidem in Christum Zanch. ad loc ye were sealed with the holy spirit of promise Ephes 1.13 Thus appealing Conscience into and adjuring her by the divine presence will be of notable advantage It will not only awaken and engage Conscience but will awe her from extreams to which Sin and Satan may otherwise incline her and put the more authority and undeniableness into her testimony and sentence as being given not only upon God's commission but with God's contestation and comprobation and so will be the more powerful to arrest and stay scruples to anticipate or answer Satan and ascertain the Soul in the sweetest and steadiest affiance while the testimony and judgment of Conscience to a mans righteousness and reconciliation c. is after such severities and as in the sight of God And her language to the Soul is like that of Eliphaz to Job Lo this we have searched it so it is hear it and know thou it for thy good Psal 17.2 3. 7.3 9 10. 26.1 2 3. Job 13.15 16. c. 23.10 c. 27.2 5 6. c. 5.27 Q. 7. How may we keep Peace of Conscience when once gotten The former Directions C. 2. Q. 7. and those even now given you Q. 7. are of useful review here likewise * See Fenners Treat of Consc p. 200 c. But I shall be particular Direct 1. Keep out sin This is THE make-bate and like a mad man it casteth firebrands arrows and death Her entrance and first embraces its true may promise a mellifluous sweetness But her end is bitter as wormwood sharp as a two-edged sword that pierceth even to the Conscience And if anothers abuse of his liberty may wound your Conscience much more will the ardour of your own lusts Prov. 26.19 c. 3 4. Rom. 6.21 1 Cor. 8.12 Psal 38.3 5. Keep out especially 1 Scandalous sins These fly at God and his glory His name is blasphemed through them and shall you be blessed in them Had Zimri peace who slew his master Though David was the darling of Divine Providence yet farewell his peace when he once fell into such a provocation 2 Sam. 12.14 2 King 9.31 Psal 51.8 11. 2 Self-condemned sins Think not to sin against Conscience and yet sin in quiet Such sins are a daring of Conscience to do its worst and do implicitely condemn her as she doth explicitely condemn them And how can she in such a circumstance acquit and clear Remember what it
is and it is offered and exposed to the imbraces and improvements of your faith love patience and hope Gen. 17.1 Isa 45.22 24 25. His infinite and immutable perfections have your Souls to feast with and feed upon Your strength and your heart faileth you But if the bottle be empty the well of water which is by you though perhaps you see it not is full God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever Psal 73.26 Jer. 10.16 Gen. 21.15 19. Remember 't is an infinite and immutable mercy that orders you out this condition an infinite and immutable wisdom that over-rules it for duration how long for degree how far c. an infinite and immutable goodness upholds you in and under it and an infinite truth and power is bound in his own time to pluck you out of it and to make good all his promises in and by it God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it 1 Cor. 10.13 2 For Christ What an abundance is there in him to quiet you yea fulness all fulness and this for you If you will but by faith fall in with him you shall receive of his fulness grace for grace Col. 1.19 Joh. 1.16 Nay in Christ there is not only matter of peace and joy for you but of boasting of triumph His preaching his prayers his promises his passion resurrection ascension c. Do all call upon you as himself sometime did in person Let not your heart be troubled ye believe in God believe also in me Yea he is now touched with the feeling of your infirmities in way of compassion though not of corrupt passions so that you may come boldly to the throne of grace Phil. 3.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Cor. 2.14 Joh. 14.1 Heb. 4.15 16. 3 For Christians You may fetch matter of heart-quieting from their distresses which yours cannot equal from their dignity which yours cannot exceed from their deliverance which is an earnest of yours as also from their directions and exhortations which tell you it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. That he is the God of all comfort who comforteth us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we are comforted of God Lam. 3.26 2 Cor. 1.3 4. Secondly From the operation ends and effects of these sad troubles This I had principally in my eye and let me pitch here a little because the pious Soul is apt to pore more upon their extremity than to pry into their ends and effects neglecting the bright side of the Cloud and noting only the black and dark side Consider then these sharp throws and bitter agonies are not only to punish but to purge to prove to approve to improve and to prepare his Saints for more signal services or sufferings Of which you will see full proof in the further progress Consider then in these agonies 1. Happily they are to purge me The spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning is but to wash away the filth of the Daughters of Sion Like fullers sope and a refiners fire not to consume but cleanse and purifie them to purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged And shall I quarrel at that pill or cast away that potion which is blessed with such a sequel because 't is bitter in it self or breaks my sleep or burdens my stomach c. whence it conserves nature and cures my diseases and the little pains I feel are preventive of far greater Isa 4.4 Mal. 3.2 3. Isa 27.9 Perhaps it is to purge and so heal thy sleepiness and inanimadvertence David lay in an apoplectick drowsiness for a long time This state required strong purgatives and sharp prescriptions God therefore applieth this medicine and it effectually awakens and recovers him Psal 51. Or perhaps it is to purge out pride and stiffness of spirit And gentle potions will not do it there must be some other draught or the dose must be doubled David had enough to humble him but his heart stood it out undauntedly till God put this cup of trembling into his hand and this fetcheth all up and his heart down and his Soul-health returneth to its old frame ibid. What ever it is this may quiet that these troubles are not a ponyard to kill but a purge to cure 2. Happily it is to prove me Behold I will melt them and try them for how shall I do for the daughter of my people 'T is not said I will burn them and make an utter end of them Let it be to a Judas or a Cain an evil an only evil But to a Job there is good as well as evil These troubles were for his probation rather than punishment not at all for his perdition Thou O God hast proved us thou hast tried us as silver is tried God knoweth us perfectly and intuitively but 't is that we may upon trial know our selves and be less strangers to our own hearts or that others may know us This furnace then is not â—o destroy but to discriminate Judg. 9.7 Ezek. 7.5 Job 2.3 c. 7.18 Psal 66.10 May not this quiet you that whereas it might have been a milstone to tear you 't is but a touch-stone to try you to acquaint you more with your selves and acquaint others more with your sincerity Why doth God suffer you to wander thus long in the Wilderness but to numble you and prove you and to know what is in your hearts God might have thrown you like brands into the fire but he casts you like Gold into the furnace This affliction is not to ruin but to refine you Peut 8.2 Isa 48.10 Zach. 13.9 3. Happily it is to approve me When he bath tried me saith Job I shall come forth as gold more pure and more approved The Primitive Saints were tried with inward hâ—â—viness as well as outward hardships And why But That the trial of their faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth might be found unto praise and honour and glory Job 23.10 1 Pet. 1.6 7. Perhaps it may be to approve you to others here Job is to this day propounded for a pattern of patience to the faithful and must pray for his three friends as the person whom God would only accept He became the more signally approved by being so strangely afflicted Paul's necessities distresses afflictions stripes sorrows did but commend him the more to the Churches of our Saviour The skill of the Pilot is best spoken by storms and tempests Jam. 5.11 Job 42.7 8. 2 Cor. 4.4 11. Or beyond a perhaps it is to approve you at the appearing of Christ when he shall say Lo these