N01446:229
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.
SOMETIMES the man says, that he would fain submit to the will of God, but can't tell how; he has been striving after it a great while, but cannot attain it. In this Case he may be told,
That Natural men do never sincerely strive after submission to God; they do strive to submit after a fashion, and pray that they may, because they hear that it is necessary in order to Conversion, but they are never sincere in it; they do it in a false and deceitful way: Which appears,
1. Because they are labouring to make their hearts better. They are labouring to mend themselves; and upon this account they labour after it, that they may be necessitated to submit ⟨p. 73⟩to the will of God; that their own goodness may be a bond upon God to save them, that it may not be in the free liberty of God to do what he pleases with them: And upon this account they strive to submit to God, that they make a Righteousness of that.
2. Because at the same time they are hiding their own hearts from themselves; they are afraid to see how bad they are. If they have any Convictions of their own badness, they will stifle them if they can: they are labouring to excuse themselves, and love to look upon any thing in themselves that seems like goodness; they are persuading of themselves that they are better than they are, which are great hindrances to Submission.