A Treatise of Conversion, Chapter 1 · Section 25
SECT. XXV.
HAving done with the work of Conversion on the Judgement, and on the Heart; the next thing to be done, is to shew you the change that it makes on men lives: For this must be lookt after as well as the former. The same God that ruleth the Heart, doth rule the Life; and he that requireth the cleansing of the heart, doth require also the cleansing of the hands, Jam. 4. 8. The soul commandeth the body, and the heart will dispose of the course of the life; If therefore the heart be changed, the life must needs be changed too: The Root is for the fruit; and the life within, is much to enable us to Action without. When God giveth us the Root and life of Grace and Holiness, it is that we may bring forth the fruit, and do the works of Grace and Holiness. He makes not the new creature for nothing, or to be idle, much less to go on in serving the Devil: But he makes him for a new work, even to serve the living God, 1 Thes. 1. 9. For we are his workmanship created to good works, which God hath ordained that we should walk therein, Ephes. 2. 10. The Excellency of his peculiar people, is, to be zealous of good works, Tit. 2. 14. A good heart, and a good life are inseparable, as to the main: But the life may further out-go the heart, then the heart can out-go the life: For there may be a Reformed life that is in many respects good, while the heart is bad; but the life is never worser then the heart: For there can be no evil of sin in the life, but what the heart is the proper cause of: For out of the heart come murders, adulteries, theft, fals-witnessing, blasphemy, and such like sins, which defile the man, Matth. 15. 18, 19, 20. It is therefore a vain boast of those men, that take on them to be converted, when they live as they did before: Neither God nor any wise man will believe them, though they may thus deceive themselves. Seeing then, there must be a New life, with a New heart, or no Salvation: Let us a little particularly enquire, wherein that Newness of life doth Consist.
1. The first and principal Change of the Life, consisteth in the Covenant which the Converted soul doth make with Christ. As this is principally in the heart, and so containeth faith and holy Resolution, we have spoken of it before: But now I mention it as expressed with the tongue: For as with the heart we Believe to Righteousness; so with the mouth is Confession made to Salvation, Rom. 10. 10. A Resolved heart will have a resolved tongue; It will carry a man to express his Resolution, as there is convenient opportunity, both to God and man: This Covenant might be verbally entred before in the face of the Congregation, in our Baptism by our Parents, who are authorized by God in Scripture and Nature to enter their children into it, for their Good: But if the heart did never truly own that Covenant when you come to the use of Reason, you cannot expect to be saved by it. Your own Covenant with Christ when you come to age, is then as necessary to your salvation, as your Covenant by your Parent in Baptism was before, to put you into that Right which Infants have by vertue of the Promise: This Covenant is the very Bond, and Foundation of all the following obedience of your lives: when God hath opened the eyes of a sinner to see his great Necessity of Christ, and to Glory and felicity that he hath procured, and withall to see the Universality and freeness of the Promise: and that God doth call to him to consent to his terms, and accept the mercy freely offered. Converting Grace doth move the heart to acceptance, and the tongue and Life to make expression of it. There might be half-covenants, and falf-hypocritical promises before, which for want of sincerity were soon broken, and come to naught: But Conversion entereth us into a true, and firm, and durable Covenant: when the poor sinner doth once understand that it is not long of God if he be shut out, and that Christ hath put in no bar of exception against him more then any other in the promise of pardon and salvation; and when he understandeth that God doth but stay for his consent, and all the stop is at his own will, and when he understandeth throughly what reason he hath to be willing, and how little there is to be said against it; then he doth set up his Resolution, and give up himself in Covenant unto God. It may be before he misunderstood the Covenant, and thought that Christ was unwilling to shew mercy to such a one that had done him so much wrong, and he doubted whether God would bid him welcom, if he should come home: But when he is better informed, he manifesteth his consent. God saith to him in the Gospel, Sinner, wilt thou be mine? and he answereth, yea Lord, with all my heart; and glad that thou wilt accept of such a wretch as I. God saith to him in his Gospel and by his Ministers; [Sinner, thou hast undone thy self, and art under my wrath and curse, I have redeemed thee by the blood of my dear Son, he hath bought thee and will save thee, if thou wilt be his: what sayst thou? wilt thou heartily give up thy self to him to be saved? shall he be thy Saviour and thy Lord?] and the sinner answereth, [Yea Lord, with all my heart; Nothing more welcome to me then Christ. It is Christ that my wounded soul doth want. It is he, and only he that can save me: I will be his, and take him to be mine, and gladly make with him an everlasting Covenant] Before, though Christ were offered 1000 times, the stupid sinner laid it not to heart, and would not come to him that he might have life, Joh. 5. 40. But when he is drawn by the Father, and secretly Illuminated and converted by his Grace, then is he heartily glad of the match; he takes this as the day of marriage between Christ and him. Christ giveth up himself to the sinner, and the sinner giveth up himself to Christ. I know that the meer Covenant of the lips alone, will prove no man to be heartily converted: But this in Connexion with that of the heart will prove it. Have you been brought to this, beloved Hearers? to do that by your selves at age, which you did by your Parents in Baptism? Have you gladly taken Christ as he is offered to you? and have you delivered up your selves to him? I tell you, Converting Grace will bring you into Covenant: this Covenant is the very sum of all your change: all is contained in this one word [the making up the match between Christ and you] Yea, and it will make you upon fit opportunity, even manifest this to others; and even glory in your Saviour, and be willing openly to confess him before the world, and let them know that you are in Covenant with him.
And I must tell you in a word, that if this Covenant be sincere, it will have these Qualifications following. 1. It will be done in some competent measure of understanding and judgement: you will know what Christ is, and what he hath done, and what need you have of him, and how he is offered, and upon what terms he is to be Received and made yours. For there can be no true Covenant, when you are utterly ignorant of the very substance of the Covenant. 2. If it be a true Covenant, it must be entire, you must take all that is offered you, and not onelyonly a part: You must yield to the terms of the Covenant, and give up your selves wholly to Christ again. It is not to take Christ to some uses, and not to others; as to justifie and save you from Hell; and not to sanctifie or save you from sin. 3. You must do it Resolvedly and habitually, from a rooted habit and resolution of the very heart; and not from a sudden fear, or flash of conviction under a moving Sermon, and as many will do in sickness and extremity, and then forget all, or grow cold again, and return to their vomit when the fit is over: like those, Psalm 78. 34, 35, 36, 37. When he slew them, then they sought him, and they returned and enquired early after God, and they remembred that God was their Rock, and the high God their Redeemer: Nevertheless, they did flatter him with their mouth, and lied unto him with their tongues, for their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his Covenant. And vers. 10. They kept not the Covenant of God, and refused to walk in his Law. 4. If you Covenant sincerely, it must be for a present Return, and not onelyonly for the time that is to come. It must be from that day forward, without any more delay. It is not a true Covenant, which excepteth but a day. 5. And if you truly covenant with Christ, you will do it unreservedly: yea, and resolve against all Reservation. You will not secretly make exceptions, and say in your hearts, I will be the servant of Christ, if he would use me as I would have him, and deal easily with my flesh, and not destroy my worldly Interest: I will follow him as far as the way is fair, and no further; No, but you will unreservedly give up your selves to his dispose, and say, I am sure I cannot have Christ and life upon terms too hard. I am sure that however he deal with me, I can have no better master, nor can I take a better course: And if he do as hardly by me as ever he did by any of his servants, I know I shall be no loser by him, nor ever have cause to repent of the bargain. And therefore I am Resolved I will give up my self to him. He is wise, and just, and merciful, let him do with me as he will. This is the principal effect of true Conversion, to bring the soul thus to close with God in Christ.
2. And in the same Covenant, as the converted soul doth close with Christ, so doth it renounce all other Competitors. Before he served another master but now he understandeth it must be so no more. There is no serving God and Mammon, the Spirit and the flesh: Christ and Satan are as unreconcilable as light and darkness. It is the purpose of Christ to bring men from the captivity of Satan, and of sin, Act. 26. 18. and 2 Tim. 2. 24, 25. He letteth the sinner know, that there is no hopes of joyning these together: either the Devil or Christ must be forsaken; either sin or Mercy must be Renounced. The Word, and Spirit, and Minister say to him, [Thou seest sinner how the case standeth; God is Resolved; he will not change: never think of any other way: either let sin go, or let Heaven go; take which thou wilt, and leave which thou wilt: but never think of keeping both.] Hereupon the sinner lets go his sins, and renounceth the world, the flesh, the Devil; and engageth himself that Christ alone shall be his Saviour and his Lord, and God alone his chiefest good: he will take the promised glory for his Portion: And this is the other part of the Covenant. At this on blow the root of every sin is destroyed: but principally, that which is the Center and sum of all the rest, and that is, Self-love, and Self-seeking. Every unconverted sinner liveth to himself, and is addicted principally to his carnal interest, and the main work that Christ hath to do upon the soul, is, to take down this Carnal self: This is the great Enemy that he bendeth his force against. And the subduing of this is his chiefest Victory: This is the great Idol of every unregenerate man, that must be taken down, or there is no salvation. The very Nature of Conversion is, a turning from Carnal-self to God by Christ. This therefore is to be enquired after by all that would find this change upon themselves. And I beseech you brethren be very careful in this particular: For as this part of the work is of Absolute Necessity: so the interest of Carnal-self is very strong and deep rooted, and exceeding much be friended by our Nature: so that here is the main difficulty of all your work. Oh, it is no easie matter for a man unfeinedly to deny himself; it is a subtil enemy that will keep much secret life and strength, when it seemeth to be overcome. And though you may think in an affliction, or time of humiliation, that self is brought very low; yet when prosperity comes again, or when its interest lieth at the stake, and you are called, either to costly duties, or sufferings, you will then see better, what strength your carnal-self yet retaineth. Many a man hath gone far and done much, and shamefully fallen away at the last, because they were never brought throughly to self-denial. It is the remaining interest of Carnal-self, that leadeth some to fleshly lusts, and some to proud ambitious wayes, and some to drown themselves in the cares of this world, and so prove wretched hypocrites at the last. I do therefore as earnestly advise every soul of you, to all possible care in this point, as I would do to any thing in the world: what ever you do, be jealous of this sin. Fight neither against smal nor great, but against this enemy, Carnal-self: and do not too easily believe that it is overcome: Conquer this and conquer all. This is the life and soul of all sins. The very use and end of all sin is Flesh pleasing. As he that hath right ends, hath done more then half his work for his salvation: so he that keepeth up his fleshly end, is still a servant of the flesh, whatever he may do that seemeth to be for God. He that hath got the victory of this self, hath broke the heart of every sin. And in this fall of Carnal-self, there are three great master sins go down. 1. Pride. 2. Covetousness. 3. Voluptuousness. He that before was set upon the exalting of himself; is now set upon the glorifying of God. And he that lived to the world, and was a drudg for Earth, is now imployed for higher things; and he that must have his sports, and pleasures, and fleshly ease, hath now learned to use his body as a servant, and no longer to suffer it to be the Ruler of his soul. But of these I have spoken elswhere. So that I will say no more of them now: OnelyOnly this, That the destroying of these three sins: Pride, Covetousness, and Voluptuousness, and in them Carnal-self, is one half of the work of true Conversion: as the other half is the setting up of God and the turning of the soul by Christ to him; and an unreserved Dedication, and Resignation of our selves to him.