3. Suppose the worst ; there is a passing from state to state : John V. 24, 'He shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from deatli to life.' You are in a state of condemnation now, but get out of it as fast as you can : Mat. iii. 7, ' Flee from wrath to come ; ' and carry yourselves accordingly, till your condition be altered ; the door of grace is always open: Heb. vi. 18, 'Who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.'
4. If the heart do neither condemn nor acquit, make your qualifi- cation more explicit, and take the same course a condemned man would do, sue out your pardon more earnestly : Rom. viii. 33, ' Wlio shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect ? It is God that justi- fieth.' Many times an old litigious title may cost as much in clearing as the purchase of a new; therefore mind the way of fleeing from wrath to come, and be more serious in it.
Use 1. Is information. To show the bad condition of wicked men, who have within themselves an accusing conscience, and above them- selves a condemning judge ; so that a man that doeth evil can never have a sound peace and quiet within himself, nor have any quietness. Their disease is the benumbing lethargy of a stupid conscience, they do not always feel the stings of conscience, but are always subject to it. Death reviveth them, it may surprise them in an instant. All their pleasures are but ' stolen waters, and bread eaten in secret,' Pro v. ix. 17, poor delights taken by stealth when they get conscience asleep, as servants that feast themselves in a corner when they can get out of their master's sight. They are not open and avowed delights. Why ? Because their hearts condemn them, and God is ready to ratify and execute the sentence; everything puts them in a fright: Job xv. 21, ' A dreadful sound is in his ears ; in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.' Surely wicked and impenitent men have no sound peace ; they dare not look inward or upward with any comfort.
2. How far they are from the temper of religion that live even a moment without all conscience or against conscience. A good man looketh to his heart, whether it condemneth or acquitteth ; but some live without all conscience, do all things rashly and inconsiderately, never considering whether they be pleasing or displeasing to God, whetlier they tend to the honour or dishonour of God; live at haphazard; if they do good, it is by accident ; perform the duties of Christianity so far as the interest of the flesh will give them leave, yea, so far as the flesh itself will command them to do well, or forbid sin, that it may not disgrace tliem in the world, or bring some inconveniency upon them. These consult not with conscience in their actions, but are guided by their lusts and sudden passions: others live against conscience, omitting
172 SERMONS UPON 1 JOHN III. [SeR. XXV.
duties when conscience loudly calleth for it : James iv. 17, ' Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.' They will find it with a witness one day ; committing evil against the apparent checks of conscience, these kick against the pricks ; these do not only break the law of God, but offer violence to their own consciences, and in effect resist the Holy Ghost, who exciteth them to good, Acts vii. 51, and so are under a great crime.
Use 2. Carry it so that conscience may not condemn you ; the sentence may be, and usually is, ratified by God. To enforce it, con- sider these things —
1. Conscience is the best friend and the worst enemy ; partly for its comfort; it is ' a continual feast,' Prov. xv. 15 ; ' our rejoicing,' 2 Cor. i. 12. No bird sings so sweetly as the bird in the bosom. Partly for its nearness ; it is always with us in health and sickness, in life and death. Husbands and wives, who are most together, yet, because they live by a distinct life, they are often apart, and at length death cometh and looseth the band and knot ; but a good conscience is a sweet com- panion, that always remaineth with us. So it is the worst enemy, partly for its nearness, for a man to be at odds with himself, to fall out with his own heart. It is a domestic tribunal which we cannot suppress or get rid of. Let any be your enemy rather than your own conscience. Job could bear the reproaches of others, but his own ' heart should not reproach him all his days,' Job xxvii. 6. Partly because of the grievousness of the wound : Prov. xviii. 14, ' The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity ; but a wounded spirit who can bear ? ' It is no less than the fear of the wrath of the eternal God. Judas found no relief from his new friends when his conscience wakened upon him, Mat. xxvii. 3-5. In short, a man cannot run away from his con- science, no more than he can run away from himself. Therefore what folly is it to please others and offend his own conscience, or to please his lusts and wrong his conscience, and for the satisfaction of a vain appetite to incur such horror and trouble ! The satisfying of a lust is a poor vanishing pleasure, but the keeping a good conscience breedeth a solid joy, which will stick by thee to the last. When thou comest to die, it will be a support to thee ; Isa. xxxviii. 3, * Lord, thou knowest that I have walked before thee with a perfect heart.' When thou must leave riches, and honours, and pleasures, which are the baits of thy lust, this will stick by thee : 1 John ii. 17, ' The world passeth away, but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.'