A Treatise of Conversion, Chapter 1 · Section 4 – Section 6
SECT. IV.
II. I Am next to shew you what it is to be converted and become as little Children: which cannot be so well done till I have first given some brief Description of the state of a man unconverted: to which end you must know; that God made man perfect, and gave him a perfect Law to keep, which commanded perfect Obedience upon pain of Everlasting Death: by the Temptation of Satan man broke this Law, and cast himself out of the favour of God; and made himself the slave of Satan and the child of death; this he did by a wilful adhering to the creature, and departing from God; so that the Nature of man was thus become corrupt; and such as the first man, Adam was, such must his Posterity needs be; for who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Job 14. 4. And how can Adam conveigh to his posterity that Image of God which he had lost himself, or that right to the favour of God and further happiness? so that we are all born with corrupted natures inclined to earth and earthly things, and strange and averse to heaven and heavenly things; prone to evil and backward to good, estranged from God and making our carnal selves our God. Pride, Self-love, Covetousness, Voluptuousness, Unbelief, Ignorance, Error, Hypocrisie, Ungodliness, Strife, Contention, Cruelty and all Wickedness have their roots at once in us, and if temptation serve, we shall bring forth the fruit.
This being the state of every man by nature; by practice and custom in sinning men become worse; and the longer they delay before they are Converted, the worse usually do they grow, and the further do they go from God and from their happiness. By all which me thinks you may easily see, both what Conversion is, and why there is such a Necessity of it.
The Word [Conversion] is sometimes taken Actively, for that Act or work that doth convert us; and sometime Passively, for that change that is thereby wrought: as man is the Subject or Patient, so is he also an Agent in the actual turning of his own soul; so that, God and Man are both Agents in this work. The word here in my Text is Active, and maketh it the Act of man [Except ye convert your selves:] but we translate it [be converted:] because the word is used reciprocally, as some speak, in Scripture: In a word, God as the most laudable principal Cause, doth cause mans will to turn it self. So that, Conversion Actively taken, as it is the work of the Holy Ghost, is a work of the Spirit of Christ, by the doctrine of Christ, by which he effectually changeth mens minds and heart and life from the Creature to God in Christ: Conversion as it is our Work, is the work of man, wherein by the effectual Grace of the Holy Ghost, he turneth his mind and heart and life from the Creature to God in Christ. And Conversion as taken Passively, is the sincere change of a mans mind heart and life from the Creature to God in Christ, which is wrought by the Holy Ghost; through the doctrine of Christ, and by himself thus moved by the Holy Ghost. Here you may see, 1. Who is the cause of this Conversion, and what is the means. 2. What is the change wrought. 3. On whom. 4. From what and to what. 1. The most Laudable principal Cause is the Holy Ghost, who is the sanctifier of the Elect. 2. The Instrumental Cause is the doctrine of Christ either read, or heard, or some way known; and brought by the Spirit to mens Understandings and Consideration. 3. Man himself is the subject of the Spirits Operation, and the proper agent of these holy Actions of Believing, Repenting, &c. which the Holy Ghost doth cause him to perform. It is not the Holy Ghost that Believeth, but he causeth man to Believe. 4. That which we are turned from, is, as to the Object, the Creature which sinful man doth adhere to above God; and as to the Act it is sin, that is, he ceaseth this vitious adhering to the creature. 5. That which man turneth to, is, God in and by Christ the Mediator. God hath again the heart of a sinner when he is Converted, and God will be his happiness: his Reformation, Recovery, Reward and Felicity consisteth in this.
The parts of this Conversion are these three. 1. It is a change of the mind. 2. Of the heart. 3. Of the Life.
SECT. V.
1. COnversion changeth the Mind, 1 From Ignorance. 2. From Inconsideratness. 3. From Unbelief. 4. From Error.
1. Every unconverted man is Ignorant of the saving Truths of the Gospel, either by a total Ignorance of the thing, or by an insufficient, superficial, uneffectual Apprehension of it: The most of the world do not know what man is by nature and actual sin; how hateful sin and sinners are to God; how it deserveth his Everlasting wrath, and maketh it our Portion: How Christ hath satisfied and Redeemed us from this misery, and on what terms, and in what Order he offereth to man that pardon and life which he hath purchased: How he will Judge them that Believe, Repent and obey him at-last to everlasting Glory, and the rest to everlasting Misery. Many poor souls are utterly Ignorant of these very principles of the Christian Religion, in the midst of Gospel-light, and under all our most diligent Instructions, and of those that have some knowledge of them; many know them but superficially and uneffectually.
Now the first thing that the Spirit of God doth either in or to the work of Conversion, is, to open mens eyes to understand these mysteries: so that, the man that was went to hear them as a strange thing, as if we spoke Greek or Hebrew to him, is now like a man that is brought out of a dungeon into the open light; or that hath his eye-sight Recovered, and doth not only know these things, but knows them with a somewhat clear and affecting knowledge: and is much taken with the light, and rejoyceth in it, and marvaileth at his former Ignorance. I shall prove all this to you by Scripture. In 1 Cor. 2. 14. The Apostle tels us, The Natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, weither can he know them, because they are spiri…alty discerned. In 2 Cor. 4. 3. The Apostle saith; If our Gospel to hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this w…rld hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the Image of God, should shine unto them. And then the cure you may see: Acts 26. 18. I send thee to open their eyes, and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. Many poor people think that utter ignorance may stand with Grace, and that they may be saved without knowledge, because they are not book-learned. But you hear God telleth you otherwise. Many have much brainknowledge that have no Grace, but no man can have Grace without solid knowledge: For who can hate sin till he knoweth it, and the Evil of it? and who can love God till he know him to be lovely? and who can do the duty that he understandeth not, or go the way to heaven that he is ignorant of? So that this is the first part of the change of the mind; from ignorance to knowledge.
SECT. VI.
2. THe second part of the change of the mind, is, from Careless Inconsiderateness to sober Consideration: and this is a great help to all that followeth. The main reason why we cannot bring men out of love with this vain world nor to yield to the Call of God, and make out after Christ, and their Everlasting Salvation, is, because we cannot bring them to Consideration. Men are heady and rash, and drown their own reason with wilfulness or passion, or worldly businesses, and will not give reason leave to work. Their vitious wils command their understandings to other objects, and will not let them dwell long enough on those that should do them Good. All wicked men are Inconsider are men, and therefore Inconsiderate, because wicked: and therefore wicked, because Inconsiderate. If they hear of the greatest Truths in the Congregation, they go home and talk of other matters, and all runs out, and they are never the better: we cannot get them to go alone one hour, and seriously consider of what they heard: Ignorance doth much to mens perdition, but Inconsiderateness much more. Oh if that little which our common people know, were but frequently and earnestly considered of, it would not suffer them to be such as they are I Well! but when the Spirit of God comes effectually to convert the soul, he maketh them consider: he awakeneth the sleepy soul, and sheweth them that the matter so neetly concerns them, that if they love themselves, it is time to consider of it: he setteth these Truths still before their eyes, which for nerly they cast behind their backs; he holdeth their thoughts upon them so, that they must needs consider them. They had heard perhaps an hundred times before of sin, and Christ, and the Necessity of Conversion, of Judgement, and Heaven, and Hell, but they never throughly considered it till now. Oh this is a great part of the renewing work of the Spirit, to fix a mans thoughts upon the Truths of God till they work, and to bring a mans reason to do its office! I will shew you this but in two or three Texts of Scripture. In Acts 17. 11. It is said that the Jews of Berea had more ingenuity then the rest, For they searched the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so, therefore many of them Believed: When they came home they did not turn their thoughts presently to other matters, and think no more of what they had heard, but they took their Bibles, and considered and examined the Sermons which they had heard, that they might be Resolved whether it were so indeed or not; that if it were so, they might obey it accordingly; and therefore they believed. In Psal. 119. 59. & 60. vers. David saith, I thought of my wayes, and turned my feet unto thy Testimonies, I made haste and delayed not to keep thy Commands: when he thought on his ways, he turned without delay: And God complaineth of the disobedient Israelites in Isa. 1. 2, 3. That he had nourished and brought up children, and they Rebelled against him; and what was the cause? why, The Ox knoweth his owner, and the Ass his Masters Crib, but I… ael doth not know; my people doth not Consider. So that you may see the second part of the Conversion of the mind, is, from Inconsiderateness to Consideration.