Treatise of Conscience Wherein Divers Secrets are Discovered, Chapter 7
CHAP. VII.
The remedie of the troubled spirite and Conscience.
ART thou troubled (O man or woman) in thy spirite and Conscience? Then I wald exhort thee, in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ, to enter into this meditation and thinking with thy selfe. I perceiue the Lord is mindful of me, & hes visited me: For I feel my self inwardly touched: The Lord knocks at the dore of my Conscience▪ but quhat his will is, or quhat wark he is to wark in me, I knawe not: howsoever it be, this is doubtles the day of temptation, and the time of my trial: so that my estate is dangerous: For I knaw, that the sprit and image of Satan wil striue in me; aganis the sprit & image of God: and if I harken not to the Lords cal, but ȝeild vntounto the sprit of Satan, I am but lost. Thairfore, I beseik the Lord to be on my side, and to assist me with his haly spreit in this perrellous battel, that I may stand fast, and submit my self whollie to his haly wil. This done, prepare thy selfe for the tryal, by fasting and abstenance, from the sensual lustes of the flesh: For thairby thou sal be meikle eased of thy paine, and sal baith be better disposed to serue thy God, and be made a mair meet subject to the spreit of God to wark in. Being humbled & prepared, first of all clenge thy heart & Conscience: For, gif thou present thy selfe before the Lord with a polluted heart, and corrupted Conscience; Al that you can do or say, wil be but abhomination vntounto him; and he will nather regard thy praiers, nor accept any seruice at thy hands;Deut. 4. 24 Heb. 12. 29 But wil rather be a consuming fire redie to destroy thee. Thairfore, let the maner of thy clenging be this: Enter in sharp trial and examination of thy life and conversation, from thy youth vp: Cal to remembrance quhat kinde of vice or vices hes greatest dominion in thee; and quhat offences thou hes committed from time to time, either against God or thy Neighbour: This do, not only at a time, but at divers and sundrie times: For thou wilt remember at ane time, that quhilk thou can not do at ane vther: Quhilk if thou examine narrowlie, not flattering thy self, I doubt not, but thou sal find thy sinnes vglie ynough, and of ane hudge number: Ȝea, it may be, that the memory and consideration of them humble thee very farre, and make thee baith to abhorre them, & thy selfe, that suld hauehave committed sik abhominations. Having nowe ryppit vp thy sinne, quhilk is the fountain of al thy misery; thou hes nixt to turne thee with thy hail heart to the Lord, seeking help and releif at his hands, quha is onelyonly able to deliuer thee. But howe sal I turne (may thou say) to the Lord? for I knaw not the way. Surely, the lord hes taught the way, how a sinner sall turne vntounto him:Mat. 4. 17. To wit, even by earnest & vnfained repentance;Acts. 2. 38. and by a true and liuely faith in the mercies of God,Iere. 41. & 6. 16. through the death of Iesus Christ. As to the forme of thy repentance, let it be this: Cast downe thy selfe on thy face and knees before thy God, & with a broken heart; First, confesse thy sinnes freely vntounto him, without hypocrisie, howe secreit or abhominable soeuer they be: For if thou dissemble, or meane to hide any thing fra him, that knawis the leist hirne of thy heart;Iere. 11. 20 thy labour is al in vaine; and thou but provokes his indignation mair and mair against thee. Secondly, thou mon be sorrowfull in thy heart for thy sinne: For except thou be displeased with thy self, that thou hes offended thy gude God; think not that thy offences sal be forgiuen: neither sal it suffise to say, that it repenteth thee of the euil quhilk thou hes done; vnles thou rew in very deid: For the Lord that is the searcher of the hart,1. Sam. 16. 7. knawis quhat thou dois think, albeit thy sayings be never sa gud. Thairfore, beware that thou vse na dissimulation with him, leist for thine hypocrisie he confound thee. Thirdly, amend thy life in times cumming, by abstaining not onelyonly from the sinnes, quhairvnto thou hes bene maist addicted: But also, from al vther kind of sinne: and, be doing that quhilk is gude and acceptable in the sicht of the Lord: For, this is the fruit of repentance. So, that he quhilk sayis hee repents, and amends not his life in some measure, but continues in his former wickednes; hee is a lyar, and the spreit of God is not in him. But foralsmeikle as al sinne, is either committed aganis God onlie, and the first table of his Lawe: either else aganis man, and the second table: Thou aucht diligently to mark baith the ane and the vther, that is maist ryfe in thee, & that sorest pricks thy Conscience. Al sinne is aganis God, but al sinn is not aganis man: Thou may also offend God by thine euil thocht, because hee knawis thy thocht: But be thy thocht man cannot be offended, becaus he knawis it not. If then thy sin be aganis God only, thou hes God only to satisfie, by acknowledging thy sinne, by sorrowing for thy sinn, by imploring merciemercy for thy sinne, and by refraining thy selfe thereafter from that sinn. But if thou hauehave sinned aganis man, by offending him in word or deed; either in body, goods, or name: In that cace, thou mon baith craue pardone at the hands of God, and trauel by al means possible to be reconciled with man: Ȝea, except thou first endevoure thy selfe, sa far as in thee lyis, to satisfie man whome thou hes sa offended; assure thy self, that God wil not be satisfied in the▪ Hes thou made a godly vowe to the Lord, quhilk thou hes not performed? Performe thy godly vowe (if it be possible) vntounto him: Hes thou made a lawful promise vntounto man, quhilk thou hes not keeped? Fulfil thy promise if it be possible, albeit it be to thy losse. Be not ashamed to addresse thy selfe to him, quhome thou hes offended, althogh he be thy inferiour, & craue pardone of him for thine offence: And looke quhat satisfactioun hee can justly craue of thee, either in wordes, in gudes, or vther kind of deid; See thou be willing to make it, according to thy power: That thou may obtaine peace of Conscience; & that the cries of the oppressed saul quhilk sustaines bitternes & wrong, ascend not to the Lord, and procure his vengeance against thee. Farther, quhasoeuer hes offended thee, thou mon forgiue thame thair offences freely: That the Lord may also forgiue thee thine offences: But gif thou forgiue not men thair trespasses,Mat. 6. 15 Iesus Christ certifies thee, that thy heauenly Father wil na mair forgiue thee thy trespasses. Finally, thou mon renounce thy corrupted affections, & every thing that withhalds thee from God, howe deare and precious soeuer it be in thine eies: Root out thy vices, ane by ane out of thy heart, quhilk hes had sa lang dominion ouer thee: And in every thing do that quhilk thou knawis to be the wil of God: Setting aside thine awin wil, and remouing al warldly respects, and impediments quhatsoeuer; howe vnapeirand, or far repugnant soeuer it be, to the natural inclination of thy heart: That the Lord may be weil pleased with thee, and that thou may hauehave the testimonie of a gude Conscience. O! But these are harde sayings to flesh and blude, and here sal arise a strong battell within thee, quhen thou art this waies tried with the renunciation of thy awin wil, and affectiouns; and vrged to doe that quhilk is contrary to thy manly hart: For oftymes wil thou think with thy selfe: Sall I forgiue him, that hes done me sik wrang, and craueth na pardon of me? Sal I suffer this of him? Sal I not be revenged of this injurie, and on him with whome I am sa far behind? Siklike, quhen it commeth to the renuncing of the affections of thy hart, quhilk thou hes followed & served sa lang; and of that domestick Idole, quhilk thou and every man hes erected in the heart: whether sa it be, the lusts and plesures of the flesh, warldly honours and vaine glorie, couetousnes of warldly gudes, the desire of revenge, or vther quhatsumeuer vice, quhairunto thou art cheifly bound in seruitude: That conflict (I say) wilbe felon, and that departing difficil: For the spreit of the deuil, and the naturall corruption of thine awin heart, wil striue michtelie aganis the spreit of God, and the regenerate part of thy saul, if any be: Swa that thou sal make many shifts and excuses to satisfie thy a win wil and appetite, to fulfill the desire of thy heart, and to retaine that Idole, quhilk like a bond-slaue, thou serues and adores. Yea, the young riche man,Mat. 19. 21. quhome Christ bad sell al that hee had, giuegive it to the poore, and folow him; made neuer greater mourning, nor the natural man wil make to quyte his Idol, the strongest affection of his hart, quhairvnto he is thrall: For the deuil was neuer lother to come out of the person whom he possesseth, nor naturall vices wilbe to come out of mans hart, where thay hauehave once taken deepe root. Bot thou, O man that art inwardly touched! may knawe quhairon it stands: either mon thou forgiue man,Deu. 32. 35 and remit the revenge to God (to whome vengeance apertaineth) and to his lieutenants whom he hes appointed to execute justice vponupon earth: or else looke not to be forgiuen of thy heauenly Father,Mat. 6. 15 nor to be releeved of thy present trouble.Luke 9. 23. In like manner, either mon thou renounce al thy wicked affections quhatsumeuer, and reforme thame, in some measure: or else renounce thy part of the kingdome of heauen. This meikle concerning the turning to God, by repentance and amendement of life▪ nixt followis, the turning to God by faith.
Hes thou tried thy warks, and turned to God by earnest repentance, and with a resolute mind to amend thy life in times comming? Now try likewaies thy faith, & take diligent heed, whether it be waik, wauering, and ful of doubting or not: & whether it agrees with the true, haly, catholik, and apostolike faith, or not: and where thou findes it deficient in any of these points, turn with speid to the Lord, and embrace him with a true and a liuelie faith: For without faith, al thy repentance, and all thy gude warks cannot avail a whit; but ar like a filthie menstrous clout in the sicht of the Lord. There is many men that wil take heede to thair warks, and wil flie from vice and vnrichteousnes; quhilk takes na tent to the nature of thair faith, and to thair zeale, and fervencie in the true seruice & worshipping of God; quhilk is a matter of greater consequence. But it is not thy warks can make thee free from sinne,Rom. 3. 27 28. nor from hel:Rom. 5. 1. It is by faith thou mon be justified; and through thy beliefe thou mon be saued.1. Pet. 1. 9. Yea,Iohn. 6. 47. but quhat sal I beleeue (would thou say) that I may be saued? Euen this thou hes to beleeue. First, that the God of heauen, quhilk wes worshipped in Israell, is the onelyonly true God, the Almichtie, and eternall father, quha hes created all the warld, and by his deuine power, gouerns the same, and all things therein contained. Secondly, thou mon beleeue that this same God, according to his promise made to our Fathers, hes sent his onelyonly Sonne Iesus Christ, downe from heauen into this warld, to take away the sinnes of mankind, quhairin all wer shot vp through the disobedience of our first progenitor Adam: Quhilk, as a gracious Sauiour became a naturall man, and by his death and obedience, hes made the reconciliation betwixt God and vsus, and hes redeemed vsus from the hel quhairvnto al were condemned. Beleeue that in him the Lord is weill pleased, and with thee for his sake: That he hes made a full and sufficient recompense for al thy sins bypast & to come: that he is risen againe from death, and by his resurrection hes ouercome the same, and the sting thairof, quhilk is sinne, the deuil, and hel the recompense of sinne. Beleeue that hee is ascended againe to the heuen, and there sits at the richt hand of his Father, making intercession to him for thee, and all that beleeues in his death; and that he sal yet come againe from heauen to judge the warld, & sal raise thee to everlasting life. Thirdly, thou mon beleeue, that after the ascension of our Saviour Iesus Christ; the Comforter, the haly Ghost and spreit of God, wes sent downe from the Father and the Sone into this warld; To rule, to preserue, to instruct, to strenthen, to comfort, to renewe and sanctifie by his michtie power, al the chosen children of God (quhilk is his halie and vniuersal Kirk) ay and quhill Iesus Christ come againe to finish al things. If thou apprehend these three persons and ane God with a true faith; & beleeue al thair warks, thair precepts, & promises quhilk are set downe in the Scriptures; as also the doctrine of thair Prophets, Apostles, Pastors, and ministers: Thou may certifie thy selfe, that though thy sinnes were neuer sa hainous and detestable, thay sall be freelie remitted, and neuer laid to thy charge; That thou art ane whome the Lord hes predestinate to eternal saluation; & that al thy present pain sal be converted in everlasting pleasure. But thou may justly object vntounto me, that thou can nather vse sik a forme of repentance: nor ȝit can find sik strenth of faith in thy self, as is heere required. Indeede it is true, that nather faith, nor repentance are at thy taking: nor ȝit can be giuen thee by any creature: but mon proceed from the michtie working of Gods spirit in thy heart. Thairfore, thou mon prostrate thy selfe before the Lord, and by earnest and diligent praier, craue them incessantlie at his hands, quha hes onelyonly power to giuegive them. Shewe him in thy praier that thou art miserable; that without his help thou art but lost, that thou can do na gud thing, except hee giuegive thee grace, that thou art there reddy to obey his wil, and inquire of him, quhat he wald hauehave thee to doe; burding him with his mercifull promises; remember him of his wonted mercies, and warks of old; but cheiflie of the sufferings and satisfaction of his Son Iesus christ, to quhais richteousnes thou mon cleaue; and in his name, and for his sake, mon craue merciemercy, grace, pacience, strength, increase of faith, and releefe of thy paine, according to his gude plesure, at the bountiful hands of God. Oh, but here is all the difficultie, wilt thou say, I am sa troubled and dejected, that I cannot pray. Surelie, I graunt that the oppressed spirit, wil be sometimes brocht to sik extremitie, that it can neither beleeue, repent, pray, nor meditate: But like a brute beast, wil remain for a season, altogither stupifact and confused. Therefore when thou art in that perplexitie, abide pacientlie the Lords wil & leasure; for thair is na remeid but pacience, quhil the Lord driue away the darknes of thy minde; seeing that obscuritie wil not tary lang: and at leist, sa far as is possible, hauehave the eie of thy heart direct towardes the Lord, and thy thocht caried vp to the heuen; hauehave a desire to pray, and vtter thy intention with sighs: For the Lord that is a spirit knawis what thy spirit wald, albeit there be nathing vttered in wordes.Rom. 8. 27. And when thou gets a blenk of licht, and release of thy paine, hauehave refuge hastelie to the Mediator Iesus Christ, quha hes bidden sik as are wearie and laden come to him and he will ease them: Powre out thy complaints & supplications before him, and beseech him to make mediation to his Father for thee whome he hes redeemed with his blood, to appease his Fathers wrath, and to present thee faultlesse vntounto him. Father, least thou be over farre casten downe with the remembrance and sicht of thy sinne; hauehave not thine eies alwaies fixed vponupon the vglines of thy sinne: but rather vponupon the infinite mercies of God, quhilk exceids thy sinne in greatnes. Remember likewaies, his merciful promises, and mercy shewed to his servants, that hes bene in the like eestate, that thou art now in: And if thou can remember that the Lord hes shewed merciemercy at any time on thee before, by deliuering thee out of danger or troble: Then thou may be suirly perswaded that he wil shew merciemercy on thee again: for the merciemercy of God is without repentance.Ro. 11. 29. Heirfore, if thou continue after this maner, in fasting, in praier, in purging & circumcising thy heart and conscience, in suffering paciently the Lords rod & correction, & in hope dailie waiting for his deliverance: Thair is na question, but thou sal see a blessed issue of thy trouble: For thou sal resaue the haly Ghost quhilk sal redresse thy falts, cure thy misery; illuminate thy vnderstanding, sanctifie thy saul and make thee a new man, far aboue thy expectation. Bot foralsmeikle as the rest and wanrest of the spirit & conscience consists meikle in the daily exercise & conversatioun of man: I will also breiflie set downe what yt suld eschew, & how thou suld be exercised during the time of the trouble and wanrest of thy Conscience.