Circumspect Walking, Chapter 9 – Chapter 11
CHAP. IX.
Rules for the conscience.
THe fourth sort of rules for the inner man, concerns the conscience.Rules for the conscience. 1. Beware of doing any thing with a blind conscience.1. Beware of a blind conscience A blind man swallowes many a gnat, and a blind conscience swalloweth any sin. This is a wicked conscience, to which no sinne so great shall come, but a man shall thinke hee doth God good seruice in it,Ioh. 16. 2. as Christ speaks of them that would s…ay his Disciples. Why doe heathens persecute Christians, and Papists pursue Protestants euen to death, but out of blinde zeale and conscience, that they root out a false religion? And whatsoeuer a man doth by an erroneous and seduced conscience, is sinne: the rule of conscience to heathens being the law of nature, and to the Church the law written, euen the whole word of God as a pillar of cloud and fire to direct it in all the way to heauen. Therefore let the word of God dwell plenteously in you, in all wisedome, Col. 3. 16.
2. Doe nothing with a doubtfull conscience:2. Doe nothing with a doubting conscience. for whatsoeuer is done with a scrupulous conscience, is sinne, and is not onelyonly an offence of God, but of the conscience too,Conscientia nos animae. Tertul. which is as a little God within vsus: for it is not of faith, nor obedience to the knowne will of God. Rom. 14. vlt. Hee that doubteth, is condemned: because his action is not of faith.3. Get a good conscience ab…ue all things. Therefore vers. 5. he saith, Let eueryevery man bee fully perswaded in his minde.
3. Labour to get a good conscience aboue all things. Act. 23. 1. I have endeuoured in all good conscience till this day. A pure conscience by nature hath no man, but made pure by the bloud of Christ sprinkled vponupon it by faith, in that he hath obtained full remission of sinne, and by his bloud also merited the Spirit of Sanctification, by which the conscience of the beleeuer is daily cleansed.
4.4. Aime at a pure conscience. Labour to get a pure conscience in all things. A man by obseruing many things, may get himselfe good credit, but a good conscience must bee in all the things of God.Ioh. 18. 28. The Pharisies might not goe into Pilates iudgement hall, lest they should bee polluted; and yet at the same time, they could dispence with their conscience, to crucifie the Sonne of God, a sinne defiling heauen and earth, whiles the Sunne was ashamed, and the earth trembled at it. The Papists may not eat flesh in Lent, their consciences will not suffer them; but to kill Kings, and blow vp Parliament-houses, their consciences giuegive them good leaue. Many Protestants will not steale, kill, commit the act of adultery: but their conscience can dispense with couetousnesse, vnbridled anger wantonnesse, filthy speeches, &c. But if Gods word be the same, so must the conscience: and hee that serues God as Paul did in pure conscience, 2 Tim▪ 1. 3. will doe so at all times, in all places and things, and will auoid sinne in his closet as much as in mos… publike meetings, yea, small sinnes as well as great.
5.5. Keepe diligently the goodnesse and purity of conscien…e by 2. things. It is as great wisdome to keepe things well, as to purchase them: therefore we must (if we would wall… wisely) bee as carefull to keepe good conscience a… to obtaine them: and therunto obserue two things▪ 1. Daily take away matte… of accusation, which is sinne, by repentance. 2. Rather displease all men than thine owne conscience, thy friends, thy family, thy rulers, nay, thy owne selfe before thy conscience. So did Daniel and his fellows. So did Cyprian (as Augustine relates it) when the Emperor in the way to his execution said, Now I giuegive thee space to consider whether thou wilt obey me in casting a graine into the fire, or be thus miserably slaine: Nay (saith hee) In re tam sanctâ deliberatio non habet locum: there needs no deliberation in this case. The like we reade in the hystory of France: In the yeare 1572. presently after that tragicall and perfidious slaughter and massacre of so many thousands of Gods Saints by treacherous Papists, Charls the ninth King of France, called the Prince of Conde, and proposed to him this choice; Either to goe to Masse, or to die presently, or to suffer perpetuall imprisonment. His noble answer was, that by Gods help he would neuer chuse the first, and for either of the two latter, hee left to the Kings pleasure and Gods prouidence. Thus a good conscience makes a good choice for it selfe, chusing any thing rather than to offend God.
CHAP. X.
Rules of wisedome concerning the affections.
THe fifth sort of rules for the inner man concerneth the affections,Rules concerning the affections. and hath these particulars:
1.1. GiueGive God the chiefe affections. Delight thy selfe in the Lord, and make him thy chiefe ioy. Psal. 37. 4. For the obiect of our ioy must not be carnal, but the Lord himself, apprehending him as Gen. 17. 1. el shaddi, almighty to saue, all-sufficient to supply, and a large portion, our Sunne, our shield, grace, and glorie, Psal. 84. Salomon hauing tried his heart with all other delights, came at last to a recantation: and so doe all Gods children, and say, Lord lift thou vp the light of thy countenance vponupon vsus, Psal. 4.
2.2. Affect all other things in God, and for God. Labour to affect all other things in God, and for God, nothing like him, much lesse aboue him, or against him: Psal. 34. 8. Taste and see how good God is; that is, in all things labour to find the sweetnesse of God in all his creatures, and all his actions. A wise man will not insist in the gift, but looke to the giuer, whose louelove hee prizeth more than the token of it. If any affection make vsus vnfit to pray, or any way thrust vsus from God, it is carnall.
3.3. Fix them more vponupon heauenly things, than earthly. Let vsus labour to get our affections more to heauen than earth: Col. 3. 2. Set your affections on things which are aboue, and not on things which are on earth: where we see plainly, that these two cannot both hauehave the affections set on them, no more than two Masters serued at once:Mat. 6. 24 as also that it is not enough to affect heauenly things, but also with chiefe affection and care,ver. 33. in the first place. Hence is that ordinary rule, that spirituall things must be affected and asked simply, being simply good, but temporall with limitation, as being but conditionally good.
4. Feare the euill of sin more than the euill of punishment,4. Feare euill of sin, more than of suffering. because the euill of sinne is more euill. Sinne is simply euill, and so is nothing else, no not the punishment of it. A wise man should rather chuse hel than Gods offence: for there is nothing but sinne which God hateth, and wee ought to hate nothing so much: sin directly resisteth Gods glory, but punishment makes for it in the manifestation of his iustice.
5.5. Commiserate the afflicted estate of our brethren. Be affectionate one in the case and condition of another. In case of spirituall misery, sinne, weaknesse, humane frailty: Bee tender hearted one to another, euen as God for Christs sake forgaue you, Eph. 4. 32. so Col. 3. 12. Now beloued, as the elect of God put on tender mercy, kindnesse, &c. one to another. And in the temporall miseries of our brethren, put on bowels of compassion, be not without naturall affection, forget not Iosephs affliction; Amos 6. 6.but lend, giuegive, clothe, feed, protect from violence, and turne not thine eyes from thine owne slesh. The phrase (bowels of mercy) shewes that all our mercy must be from within, euen from the tender compassions of the estate of our brother: and the same in Isa. 58. 10. that we power out our soules to the needy: that is, our soules must first be mercifull, and then our mercies will be plentifull, which is noted in the word powring.
CHAP. XI.
Rules of wisedome for the outward man, and first concerning his calling.
NOw we come to such rules of wisedome, as wherby the outward man is to bee ordered, that wee may walke (both toward our selues, and others) not as vnwise,▪ but as wise, and that by the wisedome which is from aboue. And these rules concerne, 1. his calling, 2. his estate, 3. his words, 4. his actions.
Directions to walke wisely in his course and calling are these:Rules fo… the speci…l calling.
1.1. Liue in a lawfull calling. Seeing the calling is a part of Christian obedience, and duty to God, a Christian may neither liue out of a calling, nor in any calling not warranted by Gods word. For if God set vsus in our callings, hee promiseth both to be with vsus in them, and to giuegive vsus good successe, and to helpe vsus against the tediousnesse of them, Ios. 1. 8. Therfore sanctifie thy calling, and eueryevery part thereof,1 Tim. 4 5. by the word and prayer.
2. In the whole exercise of our calling▪ 1. Shew al… good fait… nesse in …wee must shew all good …aithfulnesse. 1. To God, 1 To God.by depending on him, who hath made our calling a chiefe meanes of our maintenance, and not sacrificing to our own nets.Hab. 116. For it is the Lord that giues power to get substance. Deut. 8. 18.2. To our selues,2. To …ur selues. by walking diligently, and abiding in our calling, that we may eat our owne bread, and prouide for our selues and ours, and giuegive to him that needeth, Eph. 4. 28. For by idle and inordinate liuing, through the neglect of the vocatiō by Gods iust iudgment men fall into the depth of sin, drunkennes, gaming, whoredome, theeuing, and nothing comes amisse to an idle person. Besides, discredit, bad report, and pouerty, Prou 6. 11.come as an armed man vponupon such a one. 3. To others,3. To others. whether we be Masters or seruants, as knowing that in our calling wee are to practise most Christian duties, as louelove to our brethren, patience, truth, fidelity, vprightnesse, as being euer vnderunder Gods eye.
3. Another point of wisedome in our callings,3. Be not busie in other mens callings. is, not to meddle with other mens businesse, but follow our owne close. 1 The. 4. 11. Study to be quiet and to doe your owne businesse. And eueryevery where the Apostle reproues busie-bodies, who going beyond their owne bounds, thrust their sickle into eueryevery mans haruest, and being out of their owne places and businesse, intermeddle with that which no way concernes them. And these are disturbers of peace and ciuill tranquility, kindling and blowing vp contentions for lacke of other work. The same rule is for women also, that they be not gadders, Tit. 2. 5.but house-keepers.
4. In all earthly businesse,4 In earthly busines carry an heauenly…minde▪ studie to carry an heauenly minde. A Christian while hee conuerseth in earth,Phil. 3. 30. must hauehave his conuersation in heauen, and know, that in all the wayes of this present life, hee ought neuer to step out of the way to eternall life. Neither shall a man bee a loser by this course, seeing wee hauehave an expresse promise, that if wee seeke Gods kingdome first and principally, these outward things should (so farre as they are needfull for vsus) without such carking care bee cast vponupon vsus.
5.5. Intend most the most necessary duties of them. As all duties of the calling must be profitable in themselues, and for the publike good, so the most profitable must bee most intended, and specially performed. A Minister must reade the Word, but must apply himselfe more to Preaching, as being more necessary. A Magistrate must execute iustice vponupon transgressors of mens lawes, but especially against open transgressors of Gods Law. Masters of Families must prouide for the bodies and health of their Family, but especially for the good and saluation of their soules.