A Treatise of Conversion, Chapter 1 · Section 7
SECT. VII.
3. THe third part of the change of the mind, is, from …nbelief to true Believing: A customary Belief upon the bare Credit of their fore-fathers, and the Common vote of the Country they dwell in, most among us may have of the Gospel; but this faith is like the ground of it, and will not serve to stablish and renew the soul. Men be not soundly perswaded of the infallible Truth of all the Word of God till converting Grace do bring them to Believe it: They think it may be true, and it may be false for ought they know, they cannot tell: and therefore it is that when we come to those particulars that displease them, they will not Believe them, When they do confess in General that the Scripture is true, yet when we tell them particularly of those passages that speak of the Necessity of Conversion, the Difficulty of Salvation, the fewness of the saved, and the Multitude that shall perish, with many the like Truths, they will plainly shew that they do not Believe them. A word of such matters of heaven and hell, if it were well Believed, would doubtless prevail against sensuall allurements, and make them see that they have something else then this deceitful world to look after. Certainly all unconverted sinners are at best but such half-believers as in Scripture are called rightly …nbelievers. But when the Spirit by the word doth illuminate their understanding, they see then that all this is most certainly true: that the talk of sin, and misery, and Christ, and Grace, and Glory, and of Everlasting Torments to the Impenitent are no dreams nor doubtful suppositions. God telleth them then to the very heart, that these are matters not to be questioned, but presently and seriously to be regarded: For God will prove true when all men prove lyars: Heaven and earth shall pass away, but a Jot or Tittle of his Word shall not pass away till all be fulfilled, Mat. 5. 18. Whatever Unbelievers think of it now, nothing is more Certain then that all men on earth shall shortly find themselves in heaven or hell. Now the soul perceiveth that this is true, as the God of heaven is true, and that it is madness to Question the Truth of his Word, who is Truth it self, and to think that Word will shake or fail which beareth up heaven and earth, and is the best security that is possible to be had; and that he should deceive them who never deceived any; and doth so much to save them from being deceived by Satan, and their own deceitful hearts. Before Conversion you might have heard by his cold prayers, and Carnal Conference, and seen by his careless sinful life, that he did not heartily believe the Word of God, but now you may hear, and see by him that he doth believe it. If you tell a man that a Bear or a Cut-throat thief is following after him, if you see him not stir any faster, nor mend his pace, you will say, sure he doth not Believe it: but if you see him run as for his life, it is a sign that he believes it: when once a man is truly converted, you may see by his affection, and diligence, and self-denial, that he owneth and Believeth the word of God indeed: If you over-heard him in his prayers, his tears, or at least his hearty groans will tell you that he believeth: If he talk with you of his former life, his sobbs and sighs and his deep self ac…ousings will tell you that he Believeth it: his careful endeavours for the saving of his soul, his earnest enquiries what he shall do to to be saved, will tell you that he Believeth: the change of his company, his talk, his life; his casting away those sins with hatred which were his delight; and taking up that holy life with delight which before he had no heart to; all this will shew that he is now a true Believer. Heb. 11. 7. Because Noah Believed, he was moved with fear and prepared the Ark: he that had seen him at work might perceive that he Believed: He would never else have so laboured to escape the danger.