sharp and crossing dispensation, fear of approaching death, some heinous out-breaking, or the like, it is a real thing, a heart-reaching conviction, not general and notional, but particular, plain, and pinching, affecting the heart with fear and terror, making the soul seriously and really to mind this matter, to be taken up with the thoughts of it, and anxiously and earnestly to cry out, “What shall I do to be saved?” and finally, will make the soul willing to hearken and hear what hopes of mercy there is in the gospel, and to embrace the way of salvation which is there laid down.  And the reason of this is, because Christ himself tells us, “The whole needeth not the physician, but the sick,” Matt. ix. 12.  “He is not come to call the righteous,” that is, such as are righteous in their own eyes, “but sinners,” that is, such as are now no more whole at the heart, as seeing no evil, no hazard or danger, but pricked and pierced with the sense of their lost condition, being under the heavy wrath and vengeance of the great God, because of sin; and seeing their own vileness, cursedness, wickedness and desperate madness.  Because naturally we hate God and Christ, John xv. 23-25, and have a strong and natural antipathy at the way of salvation through Jesus, therefore nothing but strong and inevitable necessity will drive us to a compliance with this gospel device of love.

2.  There must be some measure of humiliation.  Under this conviction the man is bowed down, and made mute before God; no more boasting of his goodness and of his happy condition; no high or great thoughts of his righteousness; for all are looked on now as “filthy rags,” Isa. lxv. 6.  “What things were as gain before to the soul, must now be counted loss, yea, and as dung,” Philip, iii. 7, 8.  The man must be cast down in himself, and far from high and conceity thoughts of himself, or of any thing he ever did or can do.  “For the Lord resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble,” James iv. 6; 1 Pet. v. 5.  “He reviveth the spirit of the humble,” Isa. lvii. 15.  “He that humbleth himself shall be exalted,” Matt. xviii. 4, and xxiii. 12; Luke xiv. 11, and xviii. 14.

3.  There must be a despairing of getting help or relief out of this condition, by ourselves, or any thing we can do; a conviction of the unprofitableness of all things under the sun for our relief.  No expectation of help from our supposed good heart, good purposes, good deeds, works of charity, many prayers, commendations of others, sober and harmless walking, or anything else within us or without us that is not Christ.  For, so long as we have the least hope or expectation of doing our own business without Christ, we will not come to him.  Our heart hangeth so after the old way of salvation through works, that we cannot endure to hear of any other, nor can we yield to any other.  Could we but have heaven by the way of works, we would spare no pains, no cost, no labour, no expenses; nay, we would put ourselves