Englands duty under the present gospel liberty from Revel. III, vers. 20

VI. Character.

This spiritual voice of Christ is so convictive to the Conscience of a Sinner, that it puts a final end to all shifts and evasions. Whilst Man only spake, the Soul had a thousand shifts to evade and put off what was spoken; but now all Disputes and Debates are at an end. No more Subterfuges and cunning Evasions now. The Spirit, when he cometh, he shall convince the World of sin, John 16. 8. The word signifies to convince by demonstration; and that is, to show a thing to be impossible to be otherwise than we represent it to be. Formerly when the Terrors of God were threatened against sin, the shuffling heart was wont to say, This concerns ⟨p. 291⟩me no more than others; if it go ill with me, it will go ill with thousands as well as me. 'Tis true, this is my Evil, and who is without them? I have some evils in me, but yet I have some good too. But no sooner doth the Spirit speak conviction to the Conscience, but all these pleas are out of doors. It may be the state of the Sinner's Soul was doubtful to him before, but it is not so now. It had some fears of Hell, but balanced with some vain hopes of Heaven. But now the Debate is ended, the great Question determined, Whatever I am, or have, whatever Duties I have done, and whatsoever sins I have avoided, I see I am not regenerated, I am in my natural Christless state, and except I be changed I must be damned. This was the effect of Christs convictive voice unto Paul, Rom. 7. 9. I was alive without the Law once, but when the Commandment came, sin revived and I died. He had read the Law many a time, and had the literal knowledge of it; but under these things his vain hopes lived and flourished, until the spiritual sense of the Law came home to his heart by the teaching and voice of the Spirit, and then his vain hopes gave up the ghost, and his sin and guilt stared in the face of his Conscience.