The sound believer, or, A treatise of evangelical conversion discovering the work of Christs…The sound beleever, or, A treatise of evangelicall conversion discovering the work of Christs…

There is a clear, certain, and manifest §1light, so that the soul sees its sin, and death due to it clearly and certainly; for so the word, Joh. 16.9. [Greek or Hebrew] signifies to evidence a thing by way of argumentation, nay demonstration; the Spirit so demonstrates these things as that it hath nothing to object, a mans mouth is stopped, he hath nothing to say but this; behold I am vile, I am a dead man: for if a man have many strong arguments given him to confirm a truth, yet if he have but one objection or doubtful scruple not answered, he is not fully as yet convinced, because full conviction by a clear sun-light scatters all dark objections; and hence our Saviour Jude 15. will one day convince the wicked of all their hard speeches against him, which will chiefly be done by manifesting the evil of such ways, and taking a way all those colours and defences ⟨p. 24⟩men have made for such language: before the Spirit of Christ comes, man cannot see, will not see his sin nor punishment; nay, he hath many things to say for himself as excuses and extenuations of his sin; One saith, I was drawn unto it, (the woman that thou gavest me) and so lays the blame on others: Another saith, It is my nature; Others say, All are sinners, the godly sin as well as others; and yet are saved at last, and so I hope shall I: Others profess they cannot part with sin, they would be better but they cannot, and God requires no more then they are able to perform; Another saith, I will continue in sin but a little while, and purpose hereafter to leave it; Others say, We are sinners, but yet God is merciful and will forgive it; Another saith, Though I have sinned, yet I have some good, and am not so bad as other men; endless are these excuses for sin. In one word, I know no man, though never so bad, though his sin be never so grievous, but he hath something to say for himself, and something in his mind to lessen and extenuate sin; but beloved when the Spirit comes to convince, he so convinceth as that he answers all these, pulls down all these fences, tears off all these fig-leaves, scatters all these mists, and pulls off all these s•ales from the eyes, stops a mans mouth, that the soul stands before God, crying, oh Lord guilty,