Two Treatises, Treatise 1 · Chapter 14
CHAP. XIV.
A third and a fourth motive to a good conſcience.
Come wee now to a third motive, that The third motive to a good conſcience.may yet helpe to ſtir up our minds to this neceſſary duty of getting and keeping of a good conſcience. Beſides what hath beene ſaid, it is worthy of our conſideration, that without a good conſcience all our actions, yea our very beſt ſervices to God are ſo farre from goodneſſe and acceptance, that they are abominable and diſtaſtefull unto the Lord. The formall goodneſſe of every mans actions is to be judged and eſteemed by the goodneſſe of his conſcience, which being evill and defiled, makes all a mans actions to be ſuch, 1 Tim. 1. 5. The end of the commandement is love. But what kind of love doth the commandement require, will any ſhewes or ſhadowes of obedience ſerve the turn? will the bare dutydoing paſſe for currant? No, but ſuch love to God and man, and ſuch performance of obedience, as proceeds from a pure heart and a good conſcience. So that let a man doe all outward actions of obedience, yet if a good conſcience be wanting, all is nothing, For the end of the Commandement is love out of a good conſcience. As is a mans conſcience, ſo are all his workes, and therefore nothing acceptable that a wicked man doth, becauſe hee doth it with an ill conſcience. To the pure all things are pure, but to the defiled their conſcience is defiled, and that being defiled, it defiles all it meddles with, as under the Law the Leaper defiled all he touched. The beſt meat, diſht and dreſſed with defiled and dirty hands, is loathſome to us.
The honeſt works of a mans calling are good workes in themſelves, but no good workes to him that doth them without a good conſcience, Pro. 21. 4. An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked is Sin. The calling of Husbandry is counted the moſt honeſt calling of all others, yet where a good cōſciēce is wanting, a mans very plowing is Sin. Come to holy duties of Religion and Gods ſervice, and how is it with a man wanting a good conſcience in them? That curſe of Davids, Pſal. 109. 8. Let his prayer be turned into Sin, lies upon the ſervices of all evill conſciences. See Pro. 15. 8. The ſacrifice of the wicked, that is, of him that hath an evill conſcience, is an abomination: but the prayer of the upright, that is, of a man that hath a good and upright conſcience, is his delight. Obſerve the oppoſition. Hee ſayes not the prayer of the wicked, and the prayer of the upright, nor the ſacrifice of the wicked, and the ſacrifice of the upright; but the ſacrifice of the wicked, and the prayer of the upright. A ſacrifice had prayer with it, but yet it was more ſumptuous & more ſolemn then ſingle prayer. Now who would not thinke but ſuch coſt ſhould make a man welcom, yet the ſingle prayer of the upright is accepted, whilſt his ſacrifice is an abomination, yea, and that a vile abomination, Iſ. 66. 3. A man of evill conſcience delighting in his abominations, makes his holieſt ſervices ſuch. Let ſuch an one come to the Sacraments, and how will it be with him there? even as in the former, To the impure, even the pure Sacraments are impure. Simon… Magus rather defiles the waters of Baptiſme, then they clenſe him, and it is not carnall baptiſme that availes any thing, without the anſwer and ſtipulation of a good conſcience, 1 Pet. 3. 21. And for the Sacrament of the Supper, whether doth it profit an uncleane conſcience, or ſuch a conſcience pollute it? It may be judged by a like caſe reſolved, Hag. 2. 11, 14. The uncleane perſon by a dead body touching the Bread, or Wine, or Oyle, makes theſe to be uncleane. The ceremoniall uncleanneſſe by the touch of a dead body, typified the morall uncleannes of an evill conſcience, unpurged from dead works. God looks ſpecially at the cō ſcience in all our ſervices, and if hee finds that foule and filthy, he throws the dung of mens ſacrifices in their faces, that come with the dung of their filthy conſciences, before his face. See therefore how Paul ſerves God, 2 Tim. 1. 3. Whom I ſerve from my forefathers with pure conſcience. It is an impure ſervice that is not performed with a pure conſcience, as ſleight as the world make of puritie. How much more ſhal the blood of Chriſt purge your conſciences from dead workes, Heb. 9. 14. But to what end are they purged? To ſerve the living God. Therfore marke, that till the conſcience be purged and made good, there is no ſerving of God. So Heb. 10. 22. Let us draw neere, that is, in prayer, and the like duties; But how? Having our hearts ſprinkled from an evill conſcience. Otherwiſe it is but a folly for us to draw neere, for God will not be neere when a good conſcience is far off. And therfore we are bid to purifie our hearts, when wee are bid draw nigh to God, Iam. 4. 8.
Behold here then a ſpeciall motive to make a good conſcience beautifull in our eye. As we would be loath our ſervices of God, our prayers and holy performances, ſhould be abominable in Gods eye, ſo labour for good conſciences. As we would have cōfort in alour duties of obedience, ſo labor to make our conſcience good. It is a great deale of confidence that ſilly ignorant ones have in their good prayers, & their good ſerving of God, as they call it, yea it is all the ground of their hope of ſalvation, when they are demanded an account of their hope: now alas your good prayers, and your good ſerving of God! why what do you talking of theſe things? Hath Chriſt purged your conſciences from dead workes? Have you by faith got your conſciences ſprinkled, and rinced in Chriſts blood, and ſo have ye made them good? If not, never talke of good prayers, and good ſerving of God: your prayers cannot be good whilſt your conſciences are naught. An evill conſcience before God, and a good ſervice to God cannot ſtand together. But would you have your prayers good indeed, and your ſervice acceptable indeed? then let your firſt care be to make your conſcience good.
Fourthly, let this worke with us as a The fourth motive to a good conſcience.maine motive to a good conſcience: That it is the Ship and the Arke wherein the faith is perſerved. The faith is a rich commoditie, a precious fraught, and a good conſcience is the bottome, and the veſſell wherein it is caried. So long as the ſhip is ſafe and good, ſo long the goods therin are ſafe; but if the ſhip ſplit upon the Rocks, or have but a leake therein, then are all the goods therein in danger of being loſt and caſt away. So long as a man keeps a good conſcience, there is no feare of loſing the faith, the integrity and ſoundnes of the doctrin therof. Conſtancie in the truth, is a fruit of good conſcience, Pſalm. 119. 54, 55. I have kept thy Law; he had not declined from, nor forſaken the truth of God, but what held and kept him? This I had, becauſe I kept thy precepts. Keeping of a good conſcience will keepe a man in the truth: It is that which is the holy preſervative to ſave from all errors, hereſies, & falſe doctrins. The better conſcience, the ſounder judgment, the ſounder heart, the ſounder head. As the better digeſtion in the ſtomach, the ſreer the head is from aſcēdent fumes that would diſtemper and trouble the ſame, Iohn 7. 17. If any man will do his will, he ſhall know of the doctrine whether it be of God. How ſhall a man come to have a ſound and a good judgement, to be able to judge what is truth, and what is not? Let him get a good conſcience, and make conſcience of doing the will of God, Iohn 14. 21. Hee that hath my commandements and keepes them, &c. ſuch a man hath, and keepes a good conſcience. And what benefit ſhall ſuch a one have by keeping of a good conſcience? I will love him, and I will manifeſt my ſelfe unto him. And Pſ. 50. 23. To him that orders his converſation aright▪ will I ſhew the ſalvation of God. God doth communicate himſelfe and his truth to ſuch as make conſcience of their wayes. The pure in heart ſhall ſee God, and the ſecret of the Lord is with them that feare him.
So that he that hath a good conſcience, hath the onelyonly Antidote, the moſt excellent Amulet and plague-cake at his breſt that is in the world, to ſave him from the peſtilence, and infection of Popery, Arminianiſme, Browniſme, Anabaptiſme, &c. So long as the Ship of conſcience is whole, ſo long the Iewell of faith is ſafe. Paul would have a Biſhop to hold faſt the faithfull Word, and to be ſound in doctrin, Tit. 1. 9. But yet marke it, that he would firſt have him be a man of a good conſcience in the two foregoing verſes. And 1 Tim. 3. 9. he would have the Deacons hold the mysterie of the faith in a pure conſcience.
Contrarily, nothing ſo endangers the loſſe of the faith and truth, and ſoundneſſe of doctrine, as doth the loſſe of good conſcience. A corrupt conſcience ſoone corrupts the judgement, 1 Tim. 1. 19. Holding faith and a good conſcience, which ſome having put away, concerning faith have made ſhipwracke. If the ſhip of conſcience cracke, how ſoone will the merchandize of faith wrack? If once the conſcience crack, the braine will ſoone prove crazie; and an unſound conſcience makes a fearefull way for an unſound and rotten judgement, 2 Tim. 3. 8. They reſiſt the truth, there is their corrupt conſcience: what followes upon it? Men of corrupt minds, unſound in their judgement concerning the faith. How frequent a thing is it in experience to ſee men when they loſe good conſcience, together with it either to loſe their gifts, as the unprofitable ſervant his Maſters talent, or elſe, to loſe the truth, and to fal into peſtilent and dangerous errours. So thoſe Prophets that made not conſcience in faithfull and holy execution of their office, ſee what was the fruit of their evill conſcience, Micah 3. 5, 6, 7. Therefore night ſhall be unto you that ye ſhall not have a viſion, and it ſhall be darke unto you, that ye ſhall not divine, and the Sun ſhall goe downe over the Prophets, and the day ſhall be darke over them, &c. Their darkneſſe in life ſhall be plagued with darkneſſe in judgement. To which purpoſe that is notable, Zach. 11. 17. Woe to the idoll ſhepheard that leaves the flocke. There is an unconſcionable ſhepheard, a man that makes no conſcience to attend his miniſtery. What becomes of him? The ſword ſhall bee upon his right eye, his beſt eye. And his right eye (ſhall not be pore-blind, or dimmed, but) ſhall be utterly darkened. The loſſe of good conſciences brings upon men of knowledge and learning that reproach that Nahaſh the Ammonite would have brought upon all Iſrael, 1 Sam. 11. 2. It thruſts out the right eyes. Ill conſciences not only make men look aſquint, but it blinds them, and takes away their ſight.
And what is the reaſon that Popery gets ground ſo faſt, and ſo many turne Papiſts ſo eaſily? Surely it is no wonder, how ſhould it be otherwiſe, when men either having loſt all good conſcience, or making no conſcience of their wayes, but living looſely, viciouſly, and licentiouſly, have thereby prepared a way for Antichriſt, and his Religion, to enter withall ſucceſſe. No wonder that men turne Papiſts ſo faſt, when long ſince they have turned good conſcience going. For that which Bellarmine ſpeakes, is in the Cum ariae ventilari incipiunt, non frumenta ſed paleae vento abripiente ſeparantur ab area. Ita prorſus cum Eccleſia per Ethuicorum perſecutiones, vel Haereticorum deceptiones, Deo permittente cribratur, aut ventilatur à Satana: non veri ſancti, & garves, ſed improbi leves, curioſi, laſcivi ab Eccleſia avolantes ad Ethnicos haereticoſue transfugiunt, nec fe…o ſolet accidere ut ante circa fidem aliquis naufraget, quam naufragere, caeperit circa mores. Bellarm. Orat. prefix. tom. 4.generall certainly true, though by him falſly, and maliciouſly applyed, That they be not holy and grave men, but wicked, light, curious, wanton ones, that turne Ethnickes, or Heretickes, and that it ſeldome comes to paſſe, that any man makes ſhipwracke concerning the ſaith, that firſt makes not ſhipwracke concerning manners. See the truth of it in many of our backſliders to Popery, eſpecially ſuch as have beene zealous propugners of the truth. Where began the firſt declenſion, where the firſt flaw? Had not their cōſciences firſt bruſht upon ſome rocke? was not the firſt leake there? and when they had firſt put away good conſcience, then there was a ſpeedy baniſhing of truth, and a ready entertainment of errour. And for the common ſort of their converts, conſider if many times they have not beene the very riffe-raffe of our Church, ſwearers, groſſe profaners of the Sabbath vncleane and debauched drunkards, ſuch as our Church was ſicke of, and deſired even to ſpue forth, and then when they have become a prey to all vicious courſes, through want of conſcience, through Gods juſt judgement they have become a prey to Romiſh Locuſts, whoſe commiſſion is only to hurt ſuch, and not thoſe whom the ſap of a good conſcience keepes freſh and flouriſhing as the greene graſſe, and trees of the earth, Apoc. 9. 4. For as Salomon ſpeakes of the bodily harlot, Eccle. 7. 26. ſo it is true of that ſpirituall Whore of Babylon. Her heart is ſnares and nets, her hands as bands, her deluſions ſtrong; who ſo pleaſes God, and hath a care to keepe a good conſcience ſhall eſcape from her; but the ſinner, and he that makes no conſcience of his wayes, ſhall be taken by her.
Well, let us thinke well upon this motive, we live in dangerous and declining dayes, wherein men with a greedineſſe turne to their Romiſh vomit againe. Beſides the Factors of Antichriſt are exceeding buſie and pragmaticall to draw men from the faith of Chriſt, and the Holy Ghoſt tels us they ſhall come with ſtrong deluſions. Now then all you that be the Lords people, ſave your ſelves from this dangerous generation, all you that have or would be knowne to have the ſeale of God on your foreheads, ſave your ſelves from the ſeduction of theſe Locuſts. I, but how may that be done? The deluſion is ſtrong, and it may be, we are weake. Lo then here is a remedy againſt their danger. Get, and keep, a good conſcience, live as Paul did, in all good conſcience, & thou ſhalt be ſafe from all their deluſiōs, I have kept the faith, ſayes Paul, oh! let it bee the care of us, that that may be our cloſing voice at our laſt day, and if we would keep the faith, let us keep a good conſcience; He that in his life time can ſay, I keepe a good conſcience, he at his death ſhall be able to ſay, I have kept the faith. Faith, and a good conſcience are both in a bottome. Hold one, and hold both.
As therefore thou wouldeſt feare to turne Papiſt, or any other Heretick; ſo, be ſure to hold a good conſcience, to hold on a good, honeſt, and a conſcionable man. So long as thou ſtandeſt upon that ground, thou art impregnable, and the gates of hel ſhall not be able to draw thee from the faith of the Lord Ieſus, Prov. 6 20, 22, 24. My Son, keep thy Fathers commandement, &c. And it will keep thee. So I may ſay here, keep a good conſcience, and it will keepe thee, it will keepe thee ſound in the faith, it will keepe thee from being drawne away by the error of the wicked, and it will keepe thee from the Wine of the fornications of the Whore of Babylon.