First, Hast thou ever had any spiritual sense of things good and evil? Didst thou ever see the excellency and the beauty of Christ, and the vileness and deformity of sin? Is Christ most lovely, and sin most loathsome in thine eyes? Didst thou ever taste such sweetness that there is in Christ, in a Promise, or in communion with God, that it makes thee choose Christ, embrace a Promise, prefer Communion with God above all things in this World? or didst thou ever taste such bitterness in sin, that makes thee loath it, and unfeignedly willing to leave & to forsake it? once thou hadst no relish in spiritual things, but hast thou now? time was when thou didst taste sweetness in thy sin, when thou didst delight therein: but is it as bitter to thee now, as then it was pleasant and delightful? Thou hast had an ear to hearken to the Temptations of the Devil, the Flatteries of the World, to Sinners •••icing thee to Sin, to the corruptions of thine own heart, calling thee to yield to all these: but thou hadst not an ear to listen to the motions of the Spirit of God, nor to the voice of the Ministers of God, nor to the voice of the ⟨p. 76⟩Mercies, nor the Judgments of God, nor to the voice and cry of thy own Conscience▪ but now thou art deaf unto the former, the Devil calls, but thou wilt hear, and Sinners call, but thou wilt not hearken; and thine ears are open to the Latter, if God calls, thou sayest, Speak Lord, thy Servant heareth. If the Spirit whispereth to thy Heart, thou perceivest his meaning, and obeyest, &c. Thou once didst feel Ordinances and Duties to be a Burden to •hee, and groanedst under them as a Load too heavy for thee to bear, and this was when thou didst make light of Sin: Christ's easy yoke thou thoughtest to be intolerable, but Sins intolerable yoke thou judgest to be easy, because Sin was in thy Heart, as (a• Element) in is proper place: But tell me▪ dost thou not now groan under the weight o• Sin? Dost thou not really think there is no evil of affliction so heavy as the evil of transgression? Doth it not make thee cry out, […] Wretched Man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of Death? That now thou couldest, at least sometimes, desire that thou mightest be loosed from thy body of fl•sh▪ that thou mayst be freed from this body of sin? if so, thou art alive.
First, Hast thou ever had any spiritual sense of things good and evil? Didst thou ever see the excellency and the beauty of Christ, and the vileness and deformity of sin? Is Christ most lovely, and sin most loathsome in thine eyes? Didst thou ever taste such sweetness that there is in Christ, in a Promise, or in communion with God, that it makes thee choose Christ, embrace a Promise, prefer Communion with God above all things in this World? or didst thou ever taste such bitterness in sin, that makes thee loath it, and unfeignedly willing to leave & to forsake it? once thou hadst no relish in spiritual things, but hast thou now? time was when thou didst taste sweetness in thy sin, when thou didst delight therein: but is it as bitter to thee now, as then it was pleasant and delightful? Thou hast had an ear to hearken to the Temptations of the Devil, the Flatteries of the World, to Sinners •••icing thee to Sin, to the corruptions of thine own heart, calling thee to yield to all these: but thou hadst not an ear to listen to the motions of the Spirit of God, nor to the voice of the Ministers of God, nor to the voice of the ⟨p. 76⟩Mercies, nor the Judgments of God, nor to the voice and cry of thy own Conscience▪ but now thou art deaf unto the former, the Devil calls, but thou wilt hear, and Sinners call, but thou wilt not hearken; and thine ears are open to the Latter, if God calls, thou sayest, Speak Lord, thy Servant heareth. If the Spirit whispereth to thy Heart, thou perceivest his meaning, and obeyest, &c. Thou once didst feel Ordinances and Duties to be a Burden to •hee, and groanedst under them as a Load too heavy for thee to bear, and this was when thou didst make light of Sin: Christ's easie yoke thou thoughtest to be intolerable, but Sins intolerable yoke thou judgest to be easie, because Sin was in thy Heart, as (a• Element) in is proper place: But tell me▪ dost thou not now groan under the weight o• Sin? Dost thou not really think there is no evil of affliction so heavy as the evil of transgression? Doth it not make thee cry out, 〈…〉 Wretched Man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of Death? That now thou couldest, at least sometimes, desire that thou mightest be loosed from thy body of fl•sh▪ that thou mayst be freed from this body of sin? if so, thou art alive.
