Two Treatises, Treatise 1 · Chapter 13
CHAP. XIII.
A ſecond motive, A good conſcience is a continuall feaſt.
THus have wee ſeene the firſt motive, The ſecond motive to a good conconſcience.from the benefit and comfort of a good conſcience, in ſuch caſes, and times, as a man ſtands moſt in need of comfort. A ſecond motive followes, and that is that we find, Prov. 15. 15. A good conſcience is a continuall feaſt. 1. It is a feaſt. 2. Better than a feaſt. It is a continuall feaſt.
1. It is a feaſt. The excellencie of a good conſcience is ſet forth by the ſame Quo enim melius epulantur animi quam bonis factis? aut quid aliud tam facile poteſt explere juſtorum mentes quā boni operis cō ſcientia? Ambro. de offic. l. 1. c. 31.thing, by which our Saviour ſets forth the happineſſe of heaven, Luk. 14. And well may both be ſet forth by the ſame Metaphor, conſidering what a neere affinitie there is between heaven and a good conſcience, and that there is no feaſting in heaven, unleſſe there be firſt the feaſt of a good conſcience here on earth. But why a feaſt? A feaſt for three regards.
1. For the ſelfe ſufficiencie, and ſweet ſatisfaction and contentment that a good conſcience hath within it ſelfe. Feaſting and faſting are oppoſite. In faſting upon the want of food there is an emptineſſe and a griping hunger, which makes the body inſatiably to crave. But at a feaſt there is abundance, and variety of all diſhes and dainties, ready at hand to ſatisfie a mans appetite to the full, he can have a mind to nothing but it is before him. The very beſt of every thing that is to be had is at a feaſt. A feaſt of fat things, Iſa. 25. 6. of fat things full of marrow. Such is the ſufficencie of ſatisfaction, the abundance of ſweetneſſe, and contentment that is to be found in a good conſcience. It is a table richly furniſht with all varieties, and dainties. There is no pleaſure, comfort, or contentment that a mans heart can wiſh, but it may be abundantly had in a good conſcience; as at a feaſt there is a collection of all the dainties and delicacies that ſea and land can afford.
2. For the mirth and joy of it. A feaſt is made for laughter, Eccl. 10. 19. At a feaſt there is mirth, muſick, and delight in the comfortable uſe of the creatures. Heavineſſe of heart, penſiveneſſe, and ſorrow, theſe are baniſht from the houſe of feaſting. Faſting and feaſting are oppoſite, in faſting indeed there is weeping, mourning and ſorrowing; but in a feaſt contrarily, there is mirth, merriment and joy.
There were under the Law appointed ſolemn holy feaſts anniverſarily to be celebrated, and at thoſe ſolemn feaſts were the ſilver trumpets ſounded, Num. 10. 10. and the ſound of the trumpets was a joyfull ſound, Pſ. 89. 15. For their Feſtivities were to be kept with ſpeciall joy, Deut. 16. 10, 11, 13, 14, 15. Thou ſhalt keepe the feaſt of weekes unto the Lord, &c. and thou ſhalt rejoyce before the Lord, &c. Thou ſhalt obſerve the feaſt of Tabernacles ſeven dayes, &c. And thou ſhalt rejoyce in the feaſt, &c. Therefore thou ſhalt ſurely rejoyce. And that extraordinary feaſt on the fourteenth & fifteenth of Adar, in memorial of their deliverance from Haman, ſee how it was kept Eſth. 9. 19. 22. They kept them dayes of gladneſſe and feaſting, of feaſting and joy. Even ſuch is the excellencie of a good conſcience. All the merriment and muſick, wine and good chear, will not make a mans heart ſo light and ſo merry, as the wine which is drunke at the feaſt of a good conſcience will doe. This takes away all heavineſſe and ſadneſſe of ſpirit, and hath the like effects with naturall wine. It makes a man forget his ſpiritual poverty, and remember that miſery no more, Pro. 31. 7. Nay, as wine not only takes away ſadnes, but withal brings a naturall gladneſſe with it, Pſ. 104. 15. Wine that makes glad the heart of man: ſo doth this wine at this feaſt, Pſal. 97. 11, 12. Light is ſowne for the righteous, and gladneſſe for the upright in heart, Rejoyce in the Lord ye righteous. None ſo glad an heart, as the upright in heart. Nay, ſuch is the vigour and ſtrength of this wine, at this feaſt, that it not onelyonly glads a mans heart, but makes a man as not able to containe, even to ſhout for joy, Pſalm. 32. 11. Shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart, yea ſhout aloud for joy, Pſal. 132. 16. That look as it is ſaid of the Lord, Pſ. 78. 65. The Lord awaked like a mighty man that ſhouts by reaſon of wine. So ſuch is the plenty, abundance, ſweetneſſe, and ſtrength of the wine of this feaſt, that it makes men in a holy jollity, even to break forth into ſhouting, and ſinging. This wine being liberally drunken, wherein there is no exceſſe, fils a mans heart with ſuch an overflowing exuberancie of joy, as hee cannot hold, but hee muſt needs ſhew it in Pſalmes, Hymnes and ſpirituall ſongs; and hence it is that the righteous do ſing and rejoyce, Pro. 29. 6. So that what joy a feaſt can yield, that can a good conſcience yield much more, 2 Cor. 1. 12. This is our rejoycing, the teſtimonie of our conſcience. Yea and that joy commanded, Deut. 16. at the feaſt of Tabernacles what was it but a Type of that ſpirituall joy, that the faithful under Chriſt ſhould have in keeping the feaſt of a good conſcience? The feaſt of a good conſcience is the true feaſt of Tabernacles, in which as in the other, there ſhall need no charge to rejoyce, and be merry, this feaſt will put ſuch ſpirit and life into a man, as ſhall make him ſing, skip, and ſhout for joy.
The feaſt of a good conſcience is not like a funerall feaſt, where mirth and joy are unſeemely, and unſeaſonable gueſts, there are heavie hearts and lookes, teares, and mourning, (which by the way how well they ſuit with feaſting let the world judge) but the feaſt of a good conſcience is a nuptiall feaſt, a marriage feaſt, and the day of marriage is the day of the joy of a mans heart, Cant. 3. 11. Such a feaſt, even a joyfull marriage feaſt doth a good conſcience make.
Oftentimes theſe bodily feaſts are but heavie feaſts, many for all their good cheere, company, and muſicke, cannot put away the heavineſſe of their hearts, but even in their feaſt are ſad hearted, and Sampſons wife wept all the dayes of the feaſt, Iudg. 14. 17. yea though a marriage feaſt. But in this feaſt of a good cōſcience here is no ſorrow, heavineſſe, or ſad melancholly, but all joy and gladneſſe.
3. For the ſociety and company. A feaſt is a collection, and a convention of many good friends together, whoſe ſociety and friendſhip is ſweet each to other. There is no feaſt can afford the like company that a good conſcience hath. Woe to him that is alone, Ecc. 4. that is the wofull and ſolitary condition of evill conſciences. But a good conſcience hath ever good company, is not alone, for the Father is with it, Ioh. 16. 23. yea, the Son is with it: and Chriſt, and the man with a good conſcience, they ſup, and feaſt together, Revel. 3. 20. yea, and the ſpirit is with it, 1 Cor. 13. 13. The Communion of the Holy Ghoſt be with you. What feaſt in the world can ſhew ſuch company? And good company is the chiefe thing in a feaſt. Thus a good conſcience is a feaſt.
2. It is better than a feaſt. And that in three regards.
1. In regard of the continuance and perpetuity of it, A continuall feaſt. Nabal made a feaſt, a feaſt like a King, 1 Sam. 25. but that feaſt laſted but one day. Sampſon at his marriage had a feaſt that laſted ſeven daies, Iudg. 14. 17. but yet that feaſt had an end. Ahaſhueroſh his feaſt was the longeſt feaſt that ever we read of, Eſth. 1. 4. Hee made a feaſt many dayes, an hundred and fourſcore daies. But yet v. 5. it is ſaid, And when thoſe dayes were expired. So this long feaſt had an end. It was continued for many dayes, but yet no continuall feaſt, it had an end. The feaſt of a good conſcience is not like an Vniverſity Commencement feaſt. Great exceedings, and extraordinary good cheere and company for one night, but the next morrow to their bare Commons againe. Not like the feaſt of the Nativity, at which time there is great feaſting, and great cheere every where for twelve dayes, but when thoſe dayes are over, many a man is glad of bread and cheeſe, glad to skip at a cruſt. But this is a continuall feaſt all the yeare long, all a mans life long. Therfore 1 Theſ. 5. 16. Rejoyce evermore, keep open houſe, and feaſting all the yeare long. The joy of a good conſcience was figured by the joy at the feaſt of Tabernacles. That feaſt laſted ſeven dayes. The joy muſt bee as long. Seven the number of perfection, denoted the whole courſe of a mans life, and ſo their ſeven dayes joy, the continuall joy and jollity of this continuall feaſt of a good conſcience.
Conſcience and a wife, as they agree in many things, be they good, be they ill, ſo in this alſo. If the conſcience be evill, it is like an evill wife, and ſhe a continuall evill, Prov. 27. 15. A continuall dropping in a very rainy day, and a contentious woman are alike. The contentions of a wife are a continuall dropping, Prov. 19. 13. A ſhrewiſh waſpiſh wife, is a continuall vexation and diſquiet. Such is an evill conſcience, a continuall ſorrow. Contrarily, a good conſcience is like a good wife, a good wife is a continuall comfort, a comfort in health, in ſickneſſe, in peace, in diſtreſſe, Pro. 31. 12. She doth him good and not evill all the dayes of her life. Not ſome good, and a great deale of evill withall, but all good, good & not evill. Not good at ſometime, and none at other times, but all the daies of her life, ſhe is a continuall comfort. So is the comfort of a good conſcience. It keepes holy-day and feaſting every day. It is all feaſt; a feaſt for ever; there is no Lent, or faſting dayes that interrupt this feaſt. This is the peculiar privilege of this feaſt to be continuall; belly feaſting cannot be ſo: for 1. A man cannot alwayes feaſt though he would, a mans revenues would bee exhauſt, his expences would ſoone ſink his eſtate. Continuall feaſting would ſoone begger and undoe a man of good eſtate, Pro. 21. 17. Hee that loves Wine and Oyle ſhall not be rich. It is not ſo here; the revenue of a good conſcience is bottomleſſe, it cannot be ſpent, and therfore is able to keepe a rich and a full furniſht Table all the yeare long. Here is a myſterie in this feaſt, the larger expences to day, the more laid in to keepe the feaſt the better to morrow; a man growes rich by feaſting.
2. Suppoſe a man might be able to feaſt alwayes, or might feed at another mans Voluptas tune cum maxime delectat extinguitur. Nec multum loci habet; iat que cito implet & taedio eſt, & poſt primum impetum marcet. Seneo. de vir. beat. c. 7.Table continually, yet would it weary a man beyond meaſure. It would but gug and cloy a man. All earthly pleaſures have a ſatietie, and breed a loathing by frequent uſe. But this is the admirable excellencie of this feaſt of a good conſcience, here a man may feed and eate with continuall delight. At this continual feaſt, heere is a continuall freſh appetite, and freſh delights; here is continuall feaſting without loathing and ſatiety.
3. Neither may belly feaſting be continuall. There be ſome times wherein it is inconvenient and unlawfull. To ſpeake with the faireſt, that day which God hath ſanctified for his ſervice, is not ſo convenient for feaſting. It may be no leſſe dangerous to devour ſanctified time, than ſanctified things. And in this caſe hath that ſaying a truth, It is not meet that we ſhould leave the Word of God, and ſerue Tables, Act. 6. 2. But now this feaſt without any doubt may bee on the Sabbath, yea, it is the ſpeciall feſtivall, and high day of the weeke, wherein this feaſt is beſt kept. Againe, there be times wherein God calls to ſolemne faſting and humilation, as when the Church is either in danger or diſtreſſe; but this feaſt is not hindred by faſting, it will ſtand well with it, and many a ſpeciall dainty diſh is ſerved in to this feaſting from a faſt.
4. Suppoſe a man could and might, feaſt alwayes, yet were it a brutiſh thing, and hog-like allwayes for a man to be cramming and crowding in belly cheere, allwayes to bee pauncing and gutting. It is that for which the rich Glutton is taxed, Luk. 16. That he fared deliciouſly every day. But here to feaſt at this Table every day, is that which makes a man every whit as Angel like, as belly-feaſting every day makes a man ſwine-like. Here it is a mans happineſſe to be a holy Epicure.
2. It is better then other feaſts, in regard Nunquam credideris faelicem qui adventitio loetus eſt, exibit gau dium quod intravit. Se…. ep 9….of the Independencie of this feaſt vponupon any other out-ward thing. This feaſt is able to maintaine it ſelfe of it ſelfe, and within it ſelfe. A man that hath a good conſcience, hath a feaſt, though he have nothing elſe but it. A good conſcience, though it have nothing but browne bread and water, yet this hard fare marres not the feaſt; For this feaſt ſtands not in meates, and drinks, but in righteouſneſſe, peace, and joy in the holy Ghoſt, Rom. 14. 17. Quietneſſe and a dry morſell is better then an houſefull of good cheare with ſtrife, Pro. 17. 1. Though it be but outward quietneſſe, when a man is free from vnjuſt vexations, and the moleſtations of froward and contentious diſpoſition, even ſuch quietneſſe makes a dry morſell good cheere, makes a feaſt of a cruſt. But when there is inward quietneſſe of a good conſcience, and a mans heart is at quiet from his peace with his God, what excellent cheere is a dry morſel, then? Though a man have ever ſo good fare, yet to have it ſawced with the bitterneſſe of contention, and to live in a continuall wrangling with peviſh people, what poore content would a well furniſht Table afford ſuch a man? And what poore cheere, eſpecially, would all theſe feaſts in the world make, where there is brawling and contention from the conſcience? Here then is the excellencie of this feaſt above all other feaſts. This feaſt is able to ſubſiſt, and to maintaine it ſelfe without other feaſting; other feaſting is nothing without this of a good conſcience. Other feaſting often hurts and hinders this feaſt, whileſt men by their vaine and licentious carriage therein, Feaſting without all feare, Iude. 12. Doe make the conſcience faſt and ſtarve; and whileſt their Quailes are betweene their teeth, Leanneſſe enters into their ſoule. Pſalm. 106. 5. So farre is bodily feaſting from helping, that it hinders this feaſting rather. Conſcience, can have mirth enough without a feaſt, but little is the comfort and content that a feaſt can give, where the Conſcience is not good. Men may Sed non eſt iſta hilaritas longa. Obſerva, videbis coſdem in exiguum tempus atergime ridere, & acerrime rudere. Senec ep. 92.ſet a face vponupon it and bragge, laugh, and be jolly in their feaſting, but yet in the middeſt of their laughter the heart is ſorrowfull, and the end of that mirth is heavineſſe, Prov. 14. 13. Conſcience awakened even in the middeſt of the greateſt jollitie, gives men many a bitter twitch at the heart, and in the middeſt of all their revellings, gives them Vineger and Gall to drinke. A good conſcience is it that ſweetens and ſeaſons all the diſhes of a feaſt, that is the ſawce that makes meat ſavoury, the ſugar that ſweetens Wine, that is the muſicke that makes a mans heart dance.
But let a man goe to the moſt ſumptuous, and delicious feaſts without a good conſcience, and how is it with him then? Iuſt as with Belſhazzar, Dan. 5. Where the hand writing on the wall marred all his mirth; or elſe it is in ſuch a caſe, as it was with Haman. The foole brags that he alone is invited to Eſters banquet with the King, Eſth. 5. 12. Oh how happy a man was he, under how fortunate a Planet was he borne, to be the King and Queenes Favorite both? But ſee what little reaſon hee had to brag, Chap. 7. 2. Even at the banquet of Wine, Eſther gives him a cup of gall: at the banquet of Wine doth ſhe accuſe Haman to the King. Oh! how many glory in their banquetting, and their feaſting, but how often doe their conſciences put Eſthers tricke vponupon them, even accuſe them to God, and gall and gird them in the midſt of their wine? conſcience ſerves many, as Abſoloms villaines ſerved Amnon, when his heart was merry at Abſoloms feaſt, then they ſtabd him to the heart. Cōſcience deales with them, as the Iſraelites were dealt withal in their quaile feaſt. They had their Quailes, and their dainties, but a man would rather want their good cheere, than have their ſawce. Their ſweet meat had ſharpe ſawce. Whilſt the fleſh was between their teeth, Gods anger brake in upon them. So whilſt many are chewing their dainties, conſcience fils their mouth with gravell, and ſo ſawces and ſpices their diſhes, that they find but little content therein. So miſerable are all feaſts and merriments of this world, when a man wants the independent feaſt of a good conſcience. So happy alſo are they that have the feaſt of a good conſcience, although they never taſte bit of other feaſt whilſt they live, although they be denied the crums that fall under the feaſting Gluttons table.
3. It is better in regard of the Vniverſality of it. As for belly feaſts, it ſtands not with every mans condition and purſe, to make them. It belongs onelyonly to the richer and abler ſort to feaſt. Feaſting is a matter of charge and coſt, and ſo is out of the reach of the poorer ſort. But here is the excellencie of this feaſt. The pooreſt that is may make it, and the poore have as good priviledge to make it as the rich, and the poore in this reſpect may keepe as good an houſe as the beſt Nobleman, yea, for the moſt part the poorer ſort keep this feaſt beſt. Nabal makes a feaſt like a king, but wretched man, in the mean time what feaſt keepes his conſcience? It may be many a poore Carmelite neighbour of his that went in a poore ruſſet coat, and lived in a poore thatcht cottage, kept that feaſt abundantly & richly, whilſt he poore ſot had not the crums that fell from their tables. Lazarus could not have the crums that fell from the gluttons table, but how happy had it been with the glutton if in ſtead of this delicious fare he might have had but the reverſions of Lazarus boord. Lazarus may not come to his feaſt, no nor yet to his fragments, neither will Lazarus condition permit him to feaſt it as the glutton did, but yet this feaſt of a good conſcience, Lazarus may make as well as hee, and can, and doth keepe it, whilſt the glutton feeles many an hunger-biting gripe. What an excellent feaſt is this above all other feaſts, wherein the ruſſet hath as much priviledge as the velvet, the beggar as the King, the poore tenant, as the rich Landlord? The rich Landlord often ſo feeds upon, and eates up his poor tenant by oppreſſion, that the tenant is kept low enough for feaſting; It is well with him if hee have food, hee had not need thinke of feaſting. But loe now the excellent feaſt of a good conſcience: here may the Tenant keep as good cheere as the Landlord, yea, and it may be may feaſt, whilſt the rich Landlord is ready to ſtarve for want of this proviſion.
Now then all this conſidered, what a Motive ſhould it be to make us in love with a good cōſcience. How powerfully ſhould this perſwade us therto? whē God would perſwade men to come to the joyes of heaven, hee uſes no other argument than this, to invite them to a feaſt, as in the Parable, Luk. 14. Behold, here is the ſame argument, to move you to be in love with a good conſcience, behold the Lord invites you to a feaſt, and to a feaſt where ye ſhall have ſufficiencie, without want, or loathing, where ye ſhal have wine, mirth, muſick, and good Company, to the full. The twelve dayes feaſt of the Nativitie, how is it longed for before hand, & how welcommed when it is come? And what may the reaſon be? But only becauſe it is a feaſting time. This is counted a bleſſed good time: and why a bleſſed good time? As Chriſt was a bleſſed good man, & the prophet that ſhould come into the world, and therefore ſhould be made a King, becauſe hee had fed and filled their bellies, Iohn 6. So the moſt make that a bleſſed time, not for the memorial of Chriſts Incarnatiō, but becauſe of the loaves Chriſt ſhall be a King, & becauſe of the feaſt, the time is bleſſed. Well then, & is the world ſo deſirous, and ſo glad of feaſting? Are feaſting times ſuch bleſſed times? Lo then I invite you to a feaſt, to a bleſſed good feaſt indeed, that will make you bleſſed and truly happy. Not to a feaſt of twelve daies, but to a feaſt that laſts al the twelve moneths of the yeare, to a continuing, and a continuall feaſt. How glad are many when they may goe to a feaſt? Lo a way to make feaſts for your ſelves. What a credit is it counted in the world for a man to keep a good, and great houſe, to keep feaſting and open-houſe for all commers, during the Feſtivity of the twelve dayes? Would we have this credit of good houſkeeping, not for twelve dayes but for all the yeare long? Get good conſciences, keepe good conſciences. There is no ſuch good houſe-keeper, as is the good conſcience-keeper; for a good conſcience is a feaſt, a continuall feaſt.
There is nothing that men deſire more then to live merrily, and how many ſtumble at Religion, and keeping of a good conſcience, under an idle conceit that it is the way to marre all their mirth, and to make a man lumpiſh and melancholly. Do not believe the devill, do not believe his lying agents? It is a prophane Proverbe, that Spiritus Calvinianus est ſpiritus melancholicus. A good conſcience is a feaſt, a feaſt with all dainties, muſick, and wine. Can a man be melancholly at a feaſt, at ſo joyfull, and ſo ſweet a feaſt? doth feaſting make men melancholly, or make men merry? make men weepe, or laugh? If a man ſhould cry downe feaſting with this argument, That it makes men melancholly, would not all men laugh him to ſcorn? And why then ſhould a man feare melancholly more from a good conſcience, than from a feaſt? There is none lives ſo merry a life as hee that keepes a good conſcience, hee is every day at a feaſt, hee is alwayes banquetting. Yea, the worſt diſhes of this feaſt, even thoſe at the lower end of the Table, are better than the moſt choice rarities of other feaſts. The very teares that a good conſcience ſheds have more joy and pleaſure in them, than the worlds greateſt joyes. And if the teares of a good conſcience be ſuch, what is the mirth and laughter of it? If weeping be ſo ſweet, what is ſinging? If the courſer diſhes be ſo dainty, what are the beſt ſervices? Would wee then live merrily, and paſſe our dayes jocundly indeed? Get a good conſcience and thou keepeſt a continuall feaſt, and that continuall feaſt will keepe thee in continuall mirth, and continuall joy. Yea, though thou be in affliction, and under croſſes, ſo as thy dayes unto the world may ſeeme exceedingly evill, ſhalt thou live merrily as at a feaſt. Yea, this is the ſcope of the Scripture, All the dayes of the afflicted are evill, namely, in the eye and judgement of the world: but a good conſcience, namely, to the afflicted, is a continuall feaſt. A good conſcience feaſts then, and turnes faſting dayes into feaſting dayes. A good conſcience feaſts a man in his poverty, in his ſickneſſe, in the priſon, and cheeres up a man with many a dainty bit. The wine of this feaſt makes them forget all their ſorrow.
Now then that we would be ſo wiſe as to hearken to Gods invitation to this feaſt, Let us keep the feaſt with the bread of ſincerity and truth, 1 Cor. 5. 8. Take heed now that we put not off God as thoſe did, Luke 14. invited to the feaſt, with the excuſes of Farmes, Oxen and the like. So doe many, urge them to the keeping of a good conſcience, and their anſwer is, If they ſhould be ſo preciſe, how ſhould they live, they ſhall have but poore takings if they take ſuch a courſe, I pray have me excuſed, I muſt live. Thus they anſwer, as many good husbands, when invited to frequent feaſtings, doe, No believe mee it will not hold out, if I goe every day a feaſting, I may goe one day a begging, I muſt follow my buſineſſe, and let feaſting goe. And ſo ſay men here. But take heed of putting off God thus. The time will come that thou wouldſt give all thine oxen to have but the ſcraps & crums of this feaſt, and thou ſhalt not have them, God will ſerve thee as hee did them, Luk. 14. 24. None of thoſe men which were bidden ſhall taſte of my ſupper. Thoſe that care not to keep the feaſt of a good conſcience, ſhall never come to Gods feaſt in heaven. If you refuſe to come to his feaſt now, God will at the laſt day thruſt you out of doores, when you will be preſſing and crowding in, and ſhall ſay to you, Get you hence ye deſpiſers of a good conſcience, you ſcorned the feaſt of a good conſcience, and therefore now the feaſt and gueſts of heaven ſcorne you, here is no roome for ſuch to feaſt here, who have made their conſciences faſt heretofore.