The real Christian, or, A treatise of effectual calling wherein the work of God…

The state in which the Spirit finds the elect Vessel, is a state of sin and misery; under the bounds of guilt, power of its lusts, slavery to the Creature, estrangement from, and enmity against God, a child of wrath: Now the Spirits intention being to make the Soul answer his call, and so to come off from this state in which it now lieth, by this light let in to the understanding, he maketh the Soul see all these as they Are: A man may know things, but yet not know them as he ought to know them, 1 Cor. 8.2. It is possible if you asked him before, whether sin were not an evil thing? the Creature a vain thing? the wrath of God a dreadful thing? he will answer yes, he he knows all these to be so; and yet cleaves fast to his lusts, dotes upon the Creature, is careless as to any real endeavours to get deliverance from wrath to come; the reason is, he knows not these as he ought to know them, he seeth them not as they are; if he did, it were impossible he should carry himself as he doth and be quiet. Let then the Spirit of God come in with his saving light, and teach the Soul these things as they are, then you shall see plainly by his carriage, the guilt of sin, the wrath of God are terrible indeed: in is evil indeed, the Creature is but vain indeed; the man knows these things, as Doctor Preston said, otherwise then he did before. ¹I have read somewhere of a great Divine*, who being recovered from a great sickness, said, I have learned under this sickness to know Sin and God. Did he not know these before? Doubtless he could preach good Sermons concerning God and Sin; but the Spirit, it seems in that sickness taught him these otherwise then he knew them before. Sapiens est quires sapit prout sunt; this is a truth: They who are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, Rom. 8 5. [Greek or Hebrew], sapiunt; they savour, they relish taste only such things, but they do not taste them as they are; therefore they are but fools: When the Spirit makes the elect Vessels wise, then he makes them taste these as they are. It is a certain truth, never will the Soul turn from that term from which the Lord doth call it in Conversion, until it seeth it self in ⟨p. 38⟩that term as it is. The will turns from evil only, and the Spirit of God will make it see evil, and feel evil to purpose, by making it see these things as they are really in themselves: