N01446:147
A guide to Christ. Or, The way of directing souls that are under the…
A guide to Christ. Or, The way of directing souls that are under the work of conversion. Compiled for the help of young ministers: and may be serviceable to private Christians, who are enquiring the way to Zion. / By Solomon Stoddard, A.M. and Pastor of the church in Northampton. ; With an epistle prefixed, by the Reverend Dr. Increase Mather.
Boston: printed by J. Allen for N. Boone, 1714
Directions How to guide Souls through the Work of Conversion.
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.
1. That the heart of every natural man is exceeding bad. Many times through restraints of corruption and common grace, the badness of it is hidden; but the heart of every natural man is desperately wicked, Jer. 17.9. Whatever appearances it may make, it is utterly corrupt; every sin is unmortified: those sins that they have not been accustomed to, those sins that their tempers don't dispose them to; those sins of whose baseness they have the deepest sense & their hearts are totally empty of all goodness, ⟨p. 41⟩there is not one spark of goodness in them: that the principle of sin is as strong in them after they are enlightened & reformed as ever it was.
1. That the heart of every natural man is exceeding bad. Many times through restraints of corruption and common grace, the badness of it is hidden; but the heart of every natural man is desperately wicked, Jer. 17.9. Whatever appearances it may make, it is utterly corrupt; every sin is unmortifyed: those sins that they have not been accustomed to, those sins that their tempers don't dispose them to; those sins of whose baseness they have the deepest sence & their hearts are totally empty of all goodness, ⟨p. 41⟩there is not one spark of goodness in them: that the principle of sin is as strong in them after they are inlightened & reformed as ever it was.
2. That it is necessary for him to be convinced of the badness of his own heart. When men see the badness of their own hearts, they are ready to be discouraged, but they are then in a more hopeful condition than before: If men be strangers to their own hearts, they will trust in themselves, and neglect Christ. God first discovers to them what they are, and then he discovers the excellency of Christ to them: men will never come to Christ, till they are convinced what corrupt, blind and dead creatures they e. And therefore the more God shows him of the badness of his heart, the more graciously he deals with him: The badness of the heart is matter of sorrow, but the sight of that badness is matter of encouragement; the more they see of that, the more hope there is of their being prepared for Christ.