Eighteen sermons preached in Oxford 1640 of conversion, unto God. Of redemption, & justification,…

1. From whence this desire flows; whether it come from an accidental cause: as if by accident my heart be made more soft, and I more sensible of my condition, or whether my nature be changed; to give you an instance, in iron: when iron is put into the forge it is softened, and as soon as it's taken forth, we say 'tis time to strike while the iron is hot; the fire hath made a change in it, it's malleable, the hammer is able to work on it; but let the fire be gone, and it's as hard as before; nay, we say steel is harder, so that there is no change in the nature of iron, it's hard still, redit ad ingenium, it goes back into its own estate. If it be softened, it is by an accidental cause; so here, as long as the temporary faith is in the furnace of afflictions, when God shall let loose the cord of his conscience, and makes him see that there is no way for salvation ⟨p. 389⟩but by Christ, then the sense of his torture will make him desire with all the veins in his heart to have Christ. See a singular example of this temporary desire in Psal. 78.34. When he slew them, then they sought him, and returned and enquired early after God. So Prov. 1.27. When their fear was on them as desolation, and their destruction as a whi•le-wind: when distress and anguish cometh upon you, then shall they call upon me, &c. Not with a feigned desire, but in truth and reality they desire relief; They remembered then that God was their Rock, and the high God their Redeemer; they saw a Redeemer when he was slaying of them, and they believed that God would free them, though it was but temporary: Nevertheless they flattered him with their mouths, and lied unto him with their tongues; for their heart, was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his Covenant. Observe then this was but a temporary case, a temporary change; there was no new creature, no new nature wrought: but being in the furnace of affliction, as long as the fire was hot they were pliable; they were not steadfast in his Covenant. Let this be an admonition to them that think they never can have true faith till God slay them. I am not of that opinion. God sometimes useth this means; but it is not so necessary, as that it cannot be otherwise; and to speak truly, I had rather have faith that comes another way;