scudderpage279

Page 279

is in the spiritual birth with the child. There is no birth without some travail and pain, but not all alike. Thus it is in the new birth with all that are come to years of discretion. Some have so much grief, fear, and horror, that it is intolerable, and leaves so deep an impression, that it can never be forgotten; others have some true sense of grief and fear, but nothing to the former in comparison, which may easily be forgotten.

There are causes, why some feel more grief and fear in their first conversion than others:

1. Some have committed more gross and heinous sins than others; therefore, they have more cause and need to have more terror and humiliation than others.

2. God sets some apart for greater employments than others, such as will require a man of great trust and experience; wherefore God, to prepare them, exercises such with the greatest trials, for their deep humiliation, and for their more speedy and full reformation, that all necessary graces might be more deeply and firmly rooted in them.

3. Some have been religiously brought up from their infancy, whereby, as they were kept from gross sins; so their sins were subdued by little and little, without any sensible impression of horror; grace and comfort being instilled into them almost insensibly.

4. Some by natural constitution and temper of body, are more fearful, and more sensible of anguish than others, which may cause that although they may be alike wounded in conscience for sin, yet they may not feel it all alike.

5. There may be the like fear and terror wrought in the conscience, of sin, in one as well as another; yet it may not leave the like lasting sense and impression in the memory of the one, as in the other; because God may show himself gracious in discovering a remedy, and giving comfort to one, sooner than the other. As two men may be in peril of their lives by enemies; the one, as soon as he sees his danger sees an impregnable castle to step into, or an army of friends to rescue him; this man's fear is quickly over