A treatise on comforting afflicted consciences - The Digital Puritan

206 INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMFORTINGzeal for God's glory, good causes, good men, and keeping agood conscience and fruitful influence of sobriety, righteousness,and holiness for ever after. And therefore, if uponrecovery out of trouble of conscience there follow not acontinued exercise of repentance, both for sins past, present,and to come, as you heard before, an universal change inevery power and part both of soul and body, though not inperfection of degrees, yet of parts ; a heart-rising hatredand opposition against all sin ; a shaking off old companions,brethren in iniquity, all Satan's good-fellow revellers;a delight in the word, ways, services, sabbaths, andsaints of God ; a conscientious and constant endeavour toexpress the truth of the protestations and promises made intime of terror, as I told you before, &c. ; — in a vv^ord, ifthere follow not a new life, " if all things do not becomenew" (2 Cor. v, 17), there is no new-birth in truth : all isnought, and to no purpose in the point of salvation.I'hey are then miserable comforters, physicians of novalue; nay, of notorious spiritual bloodshed, who havingneither acquaintance with, nor much caring for the manner,means, method, any heavenly wisdom, spiritual discretion,or experimental skill in managing aright sucli an importantbusiness ; if any ways they can assuage the rage and stillthe cries of a vexed, guilty conscience, they think they havedone a worthy work, though after their daubing there benothing left behind in it but a senseless scar ; nay, and perhapsmore searedness and benumbedness brought upon it,because it was not kin-ilily wrouglit upon in the furnace ofspiritual affliction, and rightly cured.I fear many poor souls are fearfully deceived, who beingrecovered out of terrors of conscience too suddenly, unseasonably,or one way or other unsoundly, conceive presentlythey are truly converted, though afterward they be the verysame men, of the same company and conditions they werebefore, or at best bless themselves in the seeming happinessof a half conversion *.* By this half Herodlan conversion they may leave many sins, and" do niany things," hear the best ministers gladly, respect and countenancethem, &c. ; and yet for all this, in respect of their own personalsalvation, as well never a whit as never the better; as wel I not at all asnor thorough-stitch.