The Soul's Preparation for Christ

For the first, I know God deals sometimes openly, and sometimes more secretly: But for the first, how this pricking comes into the soul, and how the Lord stabs the soul, and makes at ⟨p. 132⟩[…] ⟨p. 135⟩[…] ⟨p. 132⟩[…] ⟨p. 135⟩[…] ⟨p. 136⟩a man to thrust him through. This discovers it self in three particulars. First, the Lord commonly and usually lets in a kind of amazement into the mind of a sinner, and a kind of gastering: As it is with a sudden blow upon the head, if it comes with some violence, it dazzles a man, that he knows not where he is; Just so it is generally with the soul, the Lord lets in some flashes of his truth, and darts in some evidences of his truth into the heart of a man, the hammer of Gods Law layeth a sudden blow upon the heart, and this discovers the vile nature of sin; as when a drunkard is drunk to day, and will be so to morrow, and the minister preacheth against that sin, and yet he will be drunk still, and the blasphemer saith, come lets swear the minister out of the pulpit, now it may be the Lord lets in some sudden truth, that unmasks the soul, and drives him to sudden amaze, that now he sees his corruptions to be otherwise then ever he did; commonly he doth not yet see the evil of sin, but he is driven to a stand and a pause, and he doth not know what to say of himself, nor what to think of his sin, there is a kind of tumult in his thoughts, and a confused cumber, he knows not what to make of himself, and he goeth away in a kind of confused distemper: Thus it was with Paul when he was running a long to Damascus; and had gotten a lusty Steed to make hast, suddenly there did shine a light from heaven, and he heard a voice from heaven saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou ⟨p. 137⟩me? He marvelled at the matter, and yet he did not know what the matter was, and therefore he saith, Who art thou Lord? What wouldest thou have me do•?