The Soul's Preparation for Christ

Then thy sorrow is right. Sometimes God deals thus punctually with a man; first, he drives it to an amazement, Secondly, he works in him marvellous fear of evil that is to come; Thirdly, he possesseth the soul with the feeling of the evil, and so forth, as in the former particulars, but yet is bound to no time, and therefore we must not limit the holy One of Israel: it is true, the Lord may press in upon the soul, and work all this on the sudden, but yet experience hath proved, and reason will confirm it, when God works never so suddenly, he affecteth the soul, thus when a poor soul cometh in the congregation, he layeth some truth upon him, that is new and terrible, so that the soul dare not deny it, nor yet fully resist it, but is in a maze, and by and by it may be the Lord opens his eyes and awakens his conscience, and makes that more evident to the soul, and so immediately arrests the soul, and then sorrow falls in a main upon it; and the heart thinks God meant my courses, and the minister spake against him; and he must go down to hell suddenly; so that sometimes the sinner cries out in the congregation, and though he contain himself for a time, yet he buckles under the burden; all this may be done at one sermon, in one doctrine, or in one part of an use; but usually this is ⟨p. 150⟩Gods manner of working. But now the question in the next place will be this, how doth the soul behave it self under this sorrow?

Then thy sorrow is right. Sometimes God deales thus punctually with a man; first, he drives it to an amazement, Secondly, he workes in him marvelous feare of evill that is to come; Thirdly, he possesseth the soule with the feeling of the evill, and so forth, as in the former particulars, but yet is bound to no time, and therfore we must not limit the holy One of Israel: it is true, the Lord may presse in upon the soule, and worke all this on the sudden, but yet experience hath proved, and reason will confirme it, when God workes never so suddēly, he affecteth the soule, thus whē a poore soule commeth in the congregation, he layeth some truth upon him, that is new and terrible, so that the soule dare not deny it, nor yet fully resist it, but is in a maze, and by and by it may be the Lord opens his eyes and awakens his conscience, and makes that more evidēt to the soule, and so immediately arrests the soule, and then sorrow fals in a maine upon it; and the heart thinkes God meant my courses, and the minister spake against him; and he must go downe to hell suddenly; so that sometimes the sinner cries out in the congregation, and though he contain himselfe for a time, yet he buckles under the burthen; all this may be done at one sermon, in one doctrine, or in one part of an use; but usually this is