The Government of the Thoughts, Chapter 31
CHAP. XXXI. The Examination of the Conscience, concerning our Repentance, &c.
TO this a serious Examination is requisite; wherein I shall lay down these Particulars: First, some Reasons why we must seriously examine our Consciences. Secondly, The main Lets incident thereto. Thirdly, Certain Rules by which we may throughly Examine. Fourthly, Interrogatories to be proposed to the afflicted Conscience. Fifthly, Some Conclusions necessary to be drawn from the Whole.
2. FIRST, We ought to Examine our selves; for certainly God hath not so often Commanded it in vain, Lam. 3.40. Psal. 4.4. 1 Cor. 11.28. 2 Cor. 13.5. Secondly, Without this we cannot know our Sins, and so not Repent, nor have any solid Comfort in Impenitency. We are extream apt to mistake our selves; which if we do, we can have no sound Comfort in the Testimony of a good Conscience, which presupposeth Faith and Illumination. Thirdly, Without this, we cannot possibly know which way we are going, the Broad way to Destruction, or the Narrow to Salvation, which were very necessary to comfort us, if we go right, or to recal and rectifie us, if wrong. Fourthly, Without this, we can never make a right use of God's Chastisements, nor obtain any comfortable way out of 'em: Neither can we distinguish his Operations of Mercy in us, when he Humbleth us here, that we may be Exalted hereafter.
3. NOW, the common Obstructions to this Duty, are first an Evil Conscience, which being wounded by a deep Guilt, cannot endure any Searching. Secondly, Native Hypocrisie, misrepresenting us to our selves, by denominating us highly Pious, and looking upon it as an important Injury not to be counted so. Thirdly, distracting Cares of this Life, and Carnal Security, which say with those Jews, Hag. 1.2. The time is not come: These make Men refer their Repentance to the last Hour, even to the hazard of their Immortal Souls.
4. NOW, the Rules to be observed, are these: First, Earnestly endeavour to find out and abandon all thy known Sins. Secondly, Rest not in outward appearances, but entertain the illumination of God's Word into the secret and dark recesses of thy Heart: For, the Woman in the Gospel, first lighted, and then swept the Room, Luke 15.8. Thirdly, Judge thy self as impartially as thou wouldst do an Enemy. Skillful Painters place their Work at some distance from 'em, that they may be able to judge and amend their Errors. So must thou fix thy actions upon some other Person; like David, who could no… behold his Sin in himself, till Nathan shewed it him in another, 2 Sam. 12. I need not instance in Judah, Gen. 28. Or in Ahab, 1 Kings, 20.4.
5. BEGIN Early, and be constant in this Duty. If thy Thoughts, after some slender pursuit, return as those Men of Jericho, with a Non est Inventus, Josh. 2.22. Know that thou hast more need of greater diligence to repeat often thy Examination. Examin thy self by the whole Law of God: And enquire what thou hast done in opposition to Sin. Few wicked Men, but are content to observe some of God's Laws, if thou wilt grant them Naaman's Plea only, The Lord pardon thy Servant in this thing. And sometimes Herod, Ahab and Pharaoh, will have certain fits of seeming Devotion and Repentance. The Brazen Serpent will not Sting: And Men's Corruptions are most apparent when opportunity gives them Birth.
6. NOW, The Interrogatories to be propounded to thy Conscience, are these: First, doth Sin reign in thee, so that thou yieldest a willing obedience to it? Or doth it bear sway and tyrannize over thee? For between these there is an immense difference. True it is, all Men sin, but Sin reigneth only in the Unregenerate; Let not sin reign in your mortal Body, Rom. 6.12. And St. Paul further tells ye, that the Regenerate sin, Rom. 7.15.19. That which I do, I allow not; for what I would, that do I not, but wh…t I hate, that do I: For the Good that I do, I would not: But the Evil which I would not, that I do. From this Inference, ask thy Conscience whether thou wouldst have committed this Evil which now wounds it? If not, it is no more thou, but Sin that dwelleth in thee.
7. DOST thou detest all Sin, because it is contrary to God's Holy Will? And rather more for the love of God, than for fear of his Judgments? Dost thou not only grieve for every Sin which thou hast committed, but also for the …ravity and Corruption of thy Will, and the infirmities of Flesh and Blood, disabling thee to the purer service of God? If thou art in this State, thou art not disesteemed in the Eye of the Almighty: Neither will God ever Condemn thee, for that, which he hath given thee a competency of Grace to abhor and condemn in thy self: For if we would judge our selves, we should not be judged, 1 Cor. 11.31. The Unregenerate Person Idolizes Sin, but is afraid of the Punishment; but the Regenerate abhors it, therefore God will not judge him for it, but will rather say what he said to the Woman taken in Adultery, Neither do I Condemn thee, go and Sin no more, John 8.11.
8. WOULDST thou embrace Sanctity, and is it thy Heart's desire to serve God in sincerity? So that thou can'st say with the Church, Isa. 26.8. The desire of our Soul is to thy Name, and to the remembrance of thee. If thou dost hunger and thirst after Righteousness, be assured thou shalt be satisfied, Matt. 5. Dost thou in the inward Man consent to the Law of God? 'Tis Infallibly certain, if thou dost pursue after Holiness, without which, none can see God, thou art esteemed of the Almighty. For our best Perfection at present is this, not that we are throughly Pious, but that we chase after it.
9. HAST thou with the Kingly Prophet, Psalm 119.6. a respect to all God's Commandments, so that thou dost not in thy Heart dispense with any of them, for Pleasures, Profits, or any secular Advantage, but wouldst earnestly enjoy that Priviledge of keeping them all? If so, let not slip the Anchor of thy Hope, but receive Comfort: For hower Satan's Delusions may allure thee, and thy own Corruptions may betray thee, yet thy minor serving of thy Creator without Exemption or dispensation to any Sin, concludeth thee in a State of Regeneration, the Denomination following the better Part, as appears in St. Paul's Expression of himself in the same case, Rom. 7.25. With the Mind I my self serve the Law of God; but with the Flesh, the Law of Sin. That is, groaning under the Tyranny, but not dispensing with its Reign.
10. DOST thou resolve to oblige thy self to avoid Sin? Then God will accept thee, 2 Cor. 8.12. David said, I will keep thy Statutes, and I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy Righteous Judgments, Psal. 119, 8.106. It is evident he made a breach of his Performance, tho his Intentions were quite contrary, 2 Sam. 12.9. Dost thou conscientiously and diligently use the means to take cognizance of thy Sins; as by applying the word of God home to thy Conscience? for by the Law comes the knowledge of Sin. Rom. 7.7. Dost thou carefully shun all occasions and incentives moving thee and enticing thee to Sin and Wickedness? It is a vanity in him to detest Drunkenness, who will not restrain his boon Companions: It is impossible for him to hate Adultery, who fixeth his Eye upon the Lascivious, and is entangled in the snare of the Adulterer: Such are apt then to forget what was mentioned in our Saviour's Sermon on the Mount, Matt. 5.28. Whosoever looketh on a Woman to Lust after her, hath committed Adultery with her already in his Heart. And Solomon's Advice is very proper, Come not near the Door of her House, Prov. 5.8. For Opportunity and Occasion is Lust's Pander.
11. ASK thy Conscience whether it can presume to sin wittingly and willingly? And whether it can be sedate in any known and unrepented Sin? If it be disturbed, dissipate thy Fear; for this very disturbance of Conscience, which so much appals thee, is a principal Mark of a good Conscience. It is true, as the Woman sang of Saul and David, 1 Sam. 18.7. Saul hath slain his Thousands, and David his ten Thousands: So, Despair hath cast away some, but Presumption, Multitudes. Hath not thy Conscience at some time, in a particular Measure, been refreshed by a Divine assurance of thy Interest in a Saviour, a resolution to forsake all thy Sins, Peace with God, and Salvation by the Merits of Christ? We commit a gross Mistake, if we always judge of our State by present Sense: For there are certain hours of Tentation, wherein the light of Grace is obscurely Eclipsed to our Sense, and the stupid or afflicted Conscience feeleth no present Illumination of God's Spirit, which yet in due time shall return, and compensate our Tryals, with greater advantage of Assurance.
12. NOW the Conclusions necessary to be considered are these: First, The Almighty's Judgments are ever just, yea, when Flesh and Blood says with Nichodemus, How can these things be? John 3.9. When the too Curious Inquests after them are to be Stayed with a, Nay but, O Man, Who art thou that Repliest against God, Rom. 9.20. And so also his Mercies are as the unsounded Deeps, beyond all apprehension of carnal Reason; often Medicable by Wounding and Afflicting the Guilty Conscience; Comforting by terrifying, introducing to Glory and Immortality through Corruption; killing Sin in the Flesh by Death, the Fruit of Sin, and guiding to Heaven, (as I may say) by the Gates of Hell, and fear of Damnation.
13. THE most Notorious Sins committed in Ignorance and Incredulity, after Repentance, are no Arguments to Despair: For the Apostle tells you, 1 Cor. 6.9, 10, 11. Neither Fornicators, nor Idolaters, nor Adulterers, nor Effeminate, nor Abusers …f themselves with Mankind, nor Thieves, nor Covetous, nor Drunkards, nor Revilers, nor Extortioners shall Inherit the Kingdom of God; and such were some of you: But ye are Washed, but ye are Sanctified, but ye are Justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. And the same Apostle, was a Blasphemer, and a Persecuter, and Injurious; but obtained Mercy, forasmuch as he did it ignorantly, and in unbelief, 1 Tim. 1.13. In his Conversion these Sins fell off, as the Viper of Melita from his hand, without any danger to his Life, Acts 28.5. So God pronounceth of the Convert by the Mouth of his Prophet, Ezek. 18.22. All his Transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him.
14. SINS of the Regenerate, though violent Perturbations of Mind, or Tentations ensna…ing them, are not to be reckoned among Symptoms of Reprobation, or Apostacy: Such was Peter's denyal, and Davids Adultery, and Murder: Therefore the Apostle's, Counsel is very charitable, Gal. 6.1. If any Man be overtaken in any fault, ye that are Spiritual restore such a one with the Spirit of Meekness, considering thy self, lest thou also be tempted. And Christ hath taught us, without distinction of great and little Sins, to say daily, forgive us our trespasses: This Life is a Spiritual Combate, a Truceless War against the Powers of Darkness, wherein the Strongest may be, and often are carried away Captive, and yet be healed and recovered, Eph. 6.12. Their Captivity concludeth not their not being true Israelites, who would fain return.
15. EVERY Sin against Knowledge doth not presently infer a Reprobate Mind: The most Exquisite and Dexterous are sometimes taken in Satan's snares; St. Peter, though forewarned, denyed Christ through sudden apprehension of fear: Not out of Malice, but infirmity: We, nay the best of Men, are but partly Flesh and partly Spirit, so that we can neither perform the good we are inclin'd to, nor avoid the evil which we behold and detest. St. Paul, and all that are Regenerate, doth allow the Law of God, yet sometimes feel another lawless Law, carrying them away Captive to Sin, Rom. 7.23.
16. THOUGH every Sin against Conscience is very dangerous, and every perseverance therein, the very Suburbs of Hell; yet every such Enormity excludeth not Repentance and Remission: Because sin not only allureth, but sometimes exerciseth the rage of a Tyrant, and Captivates us against our Wills. There may also be a Lethargy or Epilepsie of the Soul: There is such mischievous subtilty in Satan, that his Snares, though visible, are not always avoided; whose Messengers, though felt with grief of Soul, are not always overcome; yet he that gave Waters to the Horeb Rock, Exod. 17. 6, 7. can smite our harder Hearts, and make the Waters of Life flow Plentifully, to Repentance, never to be repented of.
17. THOUGH every Relapse into Sin is very dangerous, yet if a man be not entangled and vanquish'd, those breaches may be repaired by Repentance, 2 Pet. 2.20. And Solomon tells you, The Just man falleth seven times a day, Prov. 24.16. Satan doth not always present New Scenes, but sometimes dresses up his Old Artifices, therewith to beguile: Though our Infirmities are numerous, God's Power is made manifest, by sustaining us, that though we fall, we shall not fall away. Though Satan's power, subtilty, and restless malice, are very potent, yet he and his Messengers are limited by their Chain, and can receive no Commission, if it be but to enter into a Herd of Swine, but from the Almighty, Mat. 8.31. And the Apostle tells us, 1 Cor. 10.13. That God will not suffer us to be tempted, above what we are able: So that we may resolve, that neither Life, nor Death, nor any Creature shall be able to saparate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, Rom. 8.39.