A26915:367
Directions and persuasions to a sound conversion for prevention of that deceit and damnation…Directions and perswasions to a sound conversion for prevention of that deceit and damnation…
Directions and persuasions to a sound conversion for prevention of that deceit and damnation of souls, and of those scandals, heresies, and desperate apostasies that are the consequents of a counterfeit, or superficial change / by Richard Baxter.Directions and perswasions to a sound conversion for prevention of that deceit and damnation of souls, and of those scandals, heresies, and desperate apostasies that are the consequents of a counterfeit, or superficial change / by Richard Baxter.
London: printed by A.M. for Nevil Simmons, 1658
Directions to Sinners that are purposed to Turn, and are under the… › Direction 8
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
And because the face of our present times, doth plainly show the commonness, and prevalency of this disease, and because it is a matter of so great concernment to you, I shall here give you (but as briefly as I well can) some signs by which a true Conversion may be known from this mere Opinionative Change.
And because the face of our present times, doth plainly shew the commonness, and prevalency of this disease, and because it is a matter of so great concernment to you, I shall here give you (but as briefly as I well can) some signes by which a true Conversion may be known from this meer Opinionative Change.
1. The true Convert is brought to an unfeigned Hatred of the whole Body of sin; and especially of those secret, or ⟨p. 331⟩beloved sins, that did most powerfully captivate him before, 1 Cor. 6. 11. Tit. 3. 3, 5. Col. 3. 3, 5, 7, 8. But the Opinionative Convert is still Carnal, and unmortified, and inwardly at the heart, the interest of the flesh is habitually predominant. He is not brought to an unreconcilable hatred to the great master sins that ruled him, and lay deepest; but only hath eased the top of his stomach, and cropped off some of the branches, of the tree of death. The thorns of worldly desires, and cares, are still rooted in his heart; and therefore no wonder if they choke the seed of wholesome Truth, and there be a greater Harvest for the Devil then for God, Gal. 5. 24. chap. 16. 19. & 6. 4, 8. Rom. 8. 5. Matth. 13. 22