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…

These things thus premised, let us now hear of the necessity of this work to succeed conviction.

Else a sinner will never part with his sin;¹ a bare conviction of sin doth but light the candle to see sin; compunction burns his fingers, and that only makes him dread the fire. Cleanse your hearts ye sinners, and purify your hearts ye double minded men, (saith the Apostle James, Chap. 4.8.) But how should this be done? He answers, verse 9. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep, turn your laughter into mourning. So Joel 2.12. the Prophet calls upon his hearers to turn from their sin unto the Lord; but how? Rend your hearts, and not your garments. Not that they were able to do this, but by what sorrow he requires of all in general, he thereby effectually works in the hearts of all the elect in particular; for every man naturally takes pleasure, nay all his delight and pleasure is in nothing else but sin; for God he hath none, but that. Now so long as he takes pleasure in sin, and finds contentment by sin, he cannot but cleave inseparably to it: Oh tis sweet, and it only is sweet; for so long the soul is dead in sin. Pleasure in sin is death in sin, 1 Tim. 5.6. So long as tis dead in sin, it is impossible it should part with sin; no more then a dead man can break the bonds of death. And therefore it undeniably follows, that the Lord must first put gall and wormwood to these dugs, before the soul will cease sucking, or be ⟨p. 58⟩weaned from them; the Lord must first make sin bitter, before it will part with it; load it with sin, before it will sit down and desire ease; And look as the pleasure in sin is exceeding sweet to a sinner, so the sorrow for it must be exceeding bitter, before the soul will part from it.