A59669:548
The Sincere Convert
The sincere convert discovering the paucity of true believers and the great difficulty of saving conversion by Tho. Shepherd ....The sincere convert discovering the paucity of true beleevers and the great difficulty of saving conversion by Tho. Shepheard ....
London: printed by T.P. and M.S. for Humphrey Blunden, 1641
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.
First, Consider thy best duties are tainted, poisoned, and mingled with some sin, and therefore are most odious in the eyes of an holy God, (nakedly & barely considered in themselves) for if the best actions of Gods people be filthy, as they come from them, then to be sure, all wicked mens actions are much more filthy & polluted with sin: but the first is true,1 All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; for as the fountain is, so is the stream; but the fountain of all good actions, (that is the heart) is mingled partly with sin, partly with grace, therefore every action participates of some sin, which sins are daggers at Gods heart, even when a man is praying and begging for his life, therefore there is no hope to be saved by duties.
First, Consider thy best duties are tainted, poysoned, and mingled with some sinne, and therefore are most odious in the eyes of an holy God, (nakedly & barely considered in themselves) for if the best actions of Gods people be filthy, as they come from them, then to be sure, all wicked mens actions are much more filthy & polluted with sin: but the first is true,1 All our righteousnesses are as filthy ragges; for as the fountaine is, so is the streame; but the fountaine of all good actions, (that is the heart) is mingled partly with sin, partly with grace, therfore every action participates of some sin, which sins are daggers at Gods heart, even when a man is praying and begging for his life, therefore there is no hope to be saved by duties.
Secondly, Suppose thou couldest perform them without sin, yet thou couldest not hold out in doing so, I say 40. 6. All flesh and the glory thereof is but grass. So thy best actions would soon wither, if they were not perfect: and if thou canst not persevere in performing all duties perfectly, thou art for ever undone, though thou shouldest do so for a time; live like an Angel, shine like a Sun, and at thy last gasp have but an idle thought, commit the least sin, that one rock will sink thee down even in the haven, though never so richly loaden; one sin, like a pen-knife at the heart, will stab thee; one sin, like a little fire-stick in the thatch, will burn thee; one act of treason will hang thee, though thou hast lived never so devoutly before,