The Soul's Preparation for Christ

But then you will say, happily I can think of these things, and consider of them. The mind happily hath conceived and fathomed these truths and brought in these occasions, and yet for all this, the mind stirs not, the heart works not, I say therefore, when your meditation is thus raised, you must have this skill to follow home the blow, and make it work kindly on the heart; and that is done by these three things. When your meditation is up, there is another thing which is the following of it home to the soul, and that appeareth in these three particulars.

But then you will say, happyly I can thinke of these things, and consider of them. The mind happyly hath conceived and fadomed these truths and brought in these occasions, and yet for all this, the mind stirres not, the heart workes not, I say therefore, when your meditation is thus raised, you must have this skill to follow home the blow, and make it worke kindly on the heart; and that is done by these three things. When your meditation is up, there is another thing which is the following of it home to the soule, and that appeareth in these three particulars.

The first is this, when we have conceived aright of sin, and the nature thereof, and the punishment due thereunto, then do not rest in the bare consideration of these things, but never leave the heart, be still musing of these things, and bring these blessed truths home to the soul, & bind these things on the will and affections; hold them and fasten them there, force them upon the soul, that the heart may not make an escape: take notice of it, it is a rule I would have you consider ⟨p. 110⟩of, never leave meditating till you find your heart so affected with the evil, as your mind & judgement conceived of the evil before; namely, let the heart feel that evil it conceived, let the soul feel that gall to be in sin which the mind apprehended to be in it: you see these sins loathsome and abominable, make the heart feel them, and be affected with them; the heart will fly off now, therefore it is the cunning of a Christian to lay at the heart, and pursue it continually, and hold these truths to the soul, and at last it may be under the dint of the blow, and the power of God makes the soul feel and find, and be apprehensive of the gall, and bitterness, and vileness of the evil, as before it conceived it so to be; It is not enough for a man to exercise himself in the meditation of sin, but a man must bring his soul in subjection under the power of that meditation, a man must not only chew his meat, but he must swallow it also, if he mean to have it nourish him: meditation is when the heart swalloweth down these sins, that is, when he labours so to be affected with sin, and the nature of it, as it doth require. Meditation in this case is like the beleaguering of a City, when a City is wisely & strongly beleaguered, and beset round about, they do two things: first, they batter it from without as much as they can; and secondly; they cut off all provision and relief from coming in, and so the city being partly battered from without, as much as they can, and being hindered from all relief coming in, in conclusion when they