Good Conscience, Treatise · Chapter 1
CHAP. I.
The Introduction to the Diſcourſe following
THere is no complaint ſo general as this, that the world is Naught. His experience is ſhort and ſlender, which will not iuſtifie the truth of this Complaint. And what, thinke we, may the Cauſe be of the generall wickednes of our Times? Surely nothing makes Ill Times, but Ill men, and nothing makesH…minum ſunt iſta nō Temporum▪ Senec. ep. 98 Ill Men, but Ill Conſciences. Ill Conſcience is the ſource, & the fountaine frō whence come all Iniquities, which make Times heere ſo ill. How well ſhould he deſerue that could amend Ill times? There is a courſe if it would be taken that would doe the deed, and ſo ceaſe the common Complaint. Eliſhaes courſe muſt be taken in the healing of the waters of Iericho. They ſay of their waters as wee of our Times; The water is naught, and the ground barren. 2. King. 2. 19. What courſe now takes Eliſha for the healing of the waters? He went out vntounto the ſpring of the waters, and caſt the Salt in there, ver. 21. So the waters were healed, verſ. 22. The ſpring, and fountaine of all actions good or euill is the Conſcience, and all actions and courſes of men are as their Conſciences. Out of the heart are the iſſues of life, Pro. 4. 23. The Heart▪ & Conſcience is the fountaine, eueryevery action of a mans life is an Iſſue, a little rivelet, & a water paſſage thence. Are theſe waters then that iſſue thence Naught? The way to heale them is toNon erit fructue bonus niſi arboris bonae Muta Cor, et mutabitur opus. Aug. de ver. Dom. Serm. 12. caſt the ſalt into the ſpring. Mend the Conſcience and all is mended. Good Conſciences would make Good men, and Good men would make Good Times. Lo here a Proiect for the reformation of evill Times.
Were this Proiect ſet on foot, and a good Cōſcience ſet vp, how ſhould we ſee profanations of Gods holy Name, & Day, Iniuſtice, Bribery, Oppreſſion, Deceit, Adulteries, and Whoredomes, and all other Iniquites; how ſhould we ſee all theſe, as our Saviour ſaw Satan, falling down like lightning from heaven? How ſhould wee ſee them come tumbling downe like ſo many Dagons before Gods Arke, yea tumbled downe, and broken to the ſtumps? The onelyonly Arke that muſt daſh, and ding downe theſe Dagons is a good Conſcience.
And if we would wel weigh the matter what is there equally deſirable withEcce quid prodeſt plena bonis arca cum ſit Inanis Conſcientia! Bona vis habere, & bonus non vis eſſe; tū quid eſt, quod vis habere malū ▪ Nihil omni no, non vxorem, non filium, non ancillā, villam, tunicā poſtremo nō caligam, et tamen vis habere malā vitam. Rogo te▪ Praepone vitam tuam caligae tuae (ſic Conſcientiā.) Aug. ibid. vbi ſupra. Ipſa ergo diuitiae bonae ſunt ſed iſtae omnia bona a bonis & malis haberi poſſunt. Et cū bona ſint bonos tamē facere non poſſunt Aug. de verb. Dō Serm. 5. a good Conſcience? What is that men would hauehave, but they deſire to hauehave it Good? And yet amongſt al other things they deſire to hauehave Good, what little care to hauehave the Conſciēce ſuch? Wife children, ſervants, houſes, lands, Ayre, food, rayment, who would not hauehave theſe Good? And yet that, without which none of all theſe are good, nor will yeeld vsus any true good, that alone is neglected, and whileſt men would hauehave all other things Good, yet their Conſciences, & thēſelues are Naught. Now alas what good, will all other goods doe vsus whileſt this one, and this mayne Good thing is wanting! How excellent is this Good aboue al other good things? A good wife, good children, good land, &c. theſe may a man hauehave, and yet he himſelfe not Good, theſe finde men ſometimes Good, but make none ſo; theſe goods may a man hauehave and yet himſelfe bee Naught. Not ſo with a good Conſcience, which no evill man can hauehave, which whoſoever hath, it makes him and all hee hath good. So great and ſo good a Good, why is it ſo much neglected?
Try we therefore, & let vsus aſſay if by any means, Gods good bleſſing giuing aſſiſtance, we may be able to ſtirre vp men, and to worke them to regard ſo great & ſo excellent a good. It may be at leaſt ſome few may be perſwaded, & may ſet vponupon this worke of getting a good Conſcience. If but ſome few, if but one be wrought vponupon, the labour is not in vaine. If none, yet our worke is with our God, to whom we are a ſweet ſavour in Chriſt, in them that are ſaued, and in them that periſh, 2 Cor. 2. 15.
This portion of Scripture then which I hauehave choſen for the ground of the following Diſcourſe conſiſts of three parts.
1. Pauls ſober and ingenious Profeſſion, and Proteſtation, verſ. 1.
2. Ananias his inſolent, and Impetuous Iniunction, verſ. 2.
3. Pauls zealous Anſwer, and Conteſtation, verſ. 3.
1. The firſt is Pauls Proteſtatiō in theſe words; Men and brethren, I hauehave liued in all good Conſcience vntill this day. With this Proteſtation of a good Conſcience Paul begins his Plea. And how euer to diſtinguiſh our ſelues from Papiſts, we beare the name of Proteſtants, yet wee ſhall neuer be ſound, and good Proteſtants indeede, till we can take vp Pauls proteſtation, that our care, endeauour, & courſe is to liue in All good Conſcience. A Proteſtant with a looſe & a naughty Cōſciēce, hath no great cauſe to glory in his deſertion of the Romiſh Religiō. As good a blind Papiſt, as a halting Proteſtant. The blind and the halt were equally abominable vntounto the Lord.
Paul was here brought forth to anſwer for himſelfe before the chiefe Prieſts and the Councel: And his Preface, as I ſaid, to his entēded Apology, if he had not bin iniuriouſly interrupted, is a proteſtation of the Goodnes of his Conſcience. And this his good Conſcience, or the goodneſſe of his Conſcience he ſets foorth.
1. From his Converſation, foreign; I hauehave lived, or converſed. A good converſation is a good evidence of a good Conſcience indeed, there can bee no good Conſcience, where there is not a Converſing in good. It is not ſome moods & fits in ſome good actions, & duries, frō whence Conſcience gaines the reputation of Goodnes, but a good converſation, godly & religious in the generall tenour therof, proues the conſcience worthy ſuch an honor, as to be holden Good. He may be ſaid to hauehave a good conſcience that can be ſaid to liue in a good Conſcience. Many a man is frequently in the Citie, and yet cannot be ſaid to liue there. There a man liues where he hath his Converſe and Reſidence. A mans life is not to be meaſured by ſome few actions, in which at ſome time he may be found, but by his generall courſe and converſation. God will iudge eueryevery man not according to his ſteps, but according to his waies. It were ouer-rigid cenſoriouſnes to condemne a righteous man, & to queſtion whether his conſcience were good, becauſe ſome ſteps of his hauehave bin beſide… the way. We know for the general his way is good wherein hee walkes, and therefore according to his good way we iudge his Conſcience good. Contrarily whē we ſee a mans way for th… generall to be evill, though ſome tim… he may tread a right ſtep or two, an… chance to chop into the faire roade fo… a rod or two, for this to iudge a man Conſcience good, were a bottomleſſ… and boundleſſe Charitie. Every man… Conſcience is as his life is.
2. From the Generality of his care, & obediēce. In all good Conſcience. It muſ… be All good, or it is no good Cōſcience a… all. There bee that liue in ſome goo… Conſcience, yea, Herod ſeemes to hauehave much good Conſcience, he did many things gladly, but yet Paul goes further, and liues not in ſome, not in much but in All good Conſcience.
3. From the Sincerity and, Integritie of it before God. Before men how many hauehave their Conſciences exceeding good, & yet their conſciences are far ſhort of goodnes, becauſe they are not good before God, the Iudge of conſcience. Whileſt conſcience is made only of the Capitals of the ſecond Table, or of the externals & ceremonials of the firſt, which duty is not done out of obedience to God & his Commandements; but a mans ſelfe either in his gaine, or in his prayſe is ſought, & baſe ends are the firſt mouers to good duties, here the conſcience what euer applauſe it hath from, or before men for it goodneſſe, yet of God ſhall not be ſo eſteemed. For that is not a good conſcience which is one outwardly, but which is one inwardly, whoſe prayſe is not of men but of God. And that hath its prayſe of God which is before God.
4. From his continuance, & conſtancie, vntill this day. To begin a good life, and courſe, and to liue in all good conſcience, & that before God, are excellent things; but yet one thing is wanting to make vp this goodneſſe compleate. To bee ſo for a day, or ſome dayes will not ſerue, but when a man can ſay at his laſt day, I hauehave liued in al good conſcience vntill this day, that man may bee ſafely iudged to hauehave a good conſcience indeed. Thus in theſe foure particulars doth the goodnes of Pauls conſcience appeare. It is not my purpoſe to confine my ſelfe & to keepe me within theſe bounds alone, but to take a larger latitude, within the compaſſe whereof I will bring both thoſe forenamed, and all other materiall points which this proteſtation doth afford.