There is an evangelical conscience when, by faith wrought by the Spirit of God, in the hearing of the gospel, we lay hold upon the obedience and righteousness of Christ. And such is the obedience and righteousness of Christ, that it pacifieth the conscience, which nothing else in the world will do. The conscience, without a full obedience, it will alway stagger.
And that is the reason that conscience confounds and confutes the popish way of salvation by works, &c. Because the conscience alway staggers, and fears, I have not done works enough, I have not done them well enough ; those that I have done they have been corrupt and mixed, and therefore I dare not bring them to the judgment-seat of God, to plead them meritorious. Therefore they do well to hold uncertainty of salva- tion ; because, holding merit, they must needs be uncertain of their salva- tion. A true Christian is certain of his salvation, because his conscience lays hold on the blood of Christ, because the obedience whereby he claims heaven is a superabundant obedience, it is the satisfaction of Christ, as the apostle saith in that excellent place, Heb. ix. 14, ' The blood of Christ, which oftered himself by the eternal Spirit (that is, by the Godhead), shall cleanse your consciences from dead works to servo the living God.' The blood of Christ that offered himself, his human nature by his divine, to God as a sacrifice, it shall purge your consciences from dead works. The blood of Christ, that is, the sacrifice, the obedience of Christ, in offering himself, fully pacified God, and answered the punishment which we should have endured ; for he was our Surety. ' The blood of Christ speaks better than the blood of Abel,' Heb. xii. 24. It speaks better than our sins. Our sins ciy vengeance, but the blood of Christ cries mercy.
The blood of Christ out-cries our sins. The guilty conscience for sin cries, Guilty, guilty, hell, damnation, wrath, and anguish ; but the blood of Christ cries, I say, mercy^ because it was shed by our sm-ety in our behalf. His obedience is a full satisfaction to God.
Now, the way to have a good conscience is, upon the accusations of an evil conscience by the law, to come to Christ our surety, and to get our consciences sprinlded by faith in his blood, to get a persuasion that he shed his blood for us, and upon that to labour to be purged by the Spirit. There are two purgers, the blood of Christ from the guilt of sin, and the Spirit of Christ from the stain of sin ; and upon that comes a complete good con- science, being justified by the blood of Christ, and sanctified by the Spirit of Christ. Therefore Christ came not by blood alone, or by water alone, but by water and blood ; by blood in justification, by water in sanctifica- tion and holiness of life.
Quest. Why do we allege this now for the sacrament ?
Am. We speak of a good conscience, * which is a continual feast,' Prov. sv. 15. How comes a good conscience to be such a continual feast ?
An evangelical conscience is a feast indeed ; because it feeds on a higher
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feast: it feeils on Christ. Ho is the Passover himb, as the apostle applies it, 1 Cor. V. 7. He is the ' Passover, slain for us ; ' and there is repre- sented in the sacrament, his body broken and his blood poured out for our eins. He came to feast us, and we shall feast with him.
Hereupon, if we bring repentance for our sins past, and faith whereby we are incorporate into Christ, then our consciences speak peace ; and as it is in 1 Pet. iii. 21, the conscience makes a good demand. ' It is not baptism, but the demand of a good conscience.' When the conscience hath fed on Christ, it demands boldly, as it is Rom. viii. 33, of Satan and all enemies, ' Who shall lay anything to our charge ? It is God that justifieth. It is Christ that died, or rather that is risen again.' It boldly demands of God, who hath given his Son. The bold demand of conscience prevails with God, and this comes by iixith in Christ. Now, this is strengthened by the sacrament. Here are the visible representations and seals that we are in- corporate more and more into Christ ; and so feeding upon Christ once, our conscience is pacified and purged from all dead works, and we come to have a continual feast.
Christ is first the Prince of righteousness, the righteous Iving, and then
* Prince of peace ; ' first he gives righteousness, and then he speaks peace to the conscience. ' The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost,' Rom. xiv. 17.
So that all our feast and joy and comfort that we have in our consciences, it must be from righteousness. A double righteousness : the righteousness of Christ which hath satisfied and appeased the wrath of God fully ; and then we must have the righteousness of a good conscience sanctified by the Spirit of Christ. We must put them together alway. We can never have communion with Christ, and have forgiveness of sins ; but we must have a spirit of sanctification. ' There is mercy with thee, that thou mayest be feared,' Ps. cxxx. 4. Where there is mercy in the foi'givencss of sin, there is a disposition to fear it ever after. Therefore if for the present you would have a good conscience, desire God to strengthen your faith in the blood of Christ poured out for you ; desire God to strengthen your faith in the crucified body of Christ broken for j'ou ; that so feeding on Christ, who is your surety, who himself is yours, and all is yours, you may ever have the feast of a good conscience, that will comfort you in false imputations, that will comfort you in life and in death, and at the day of judgment.