But grace, preventing grace preserves him.  It is true, this turn of the sinner is a turning short of Christ.  But,

4.  God in this way of the sinner will mercifully follow him, and show him the shortness of his performances, the emptiness of his duties, and the uncleanness of his righteousness.  This I speak of the sinner, the salvation of whose soul is graciously intended and contrived of God; for he shall by gospel light be wearied out of all; he shall be made to see the vanity of all, and that the personal righteousness of Jesus Christ, and that only, is it which of God is ordained to save the sinner from the due reward of his sins.  But behold, the sinner now, at the sight and sense of his own nothingness, falleth into a kind of despair; for although he hath it in him to presume of salvation through the delusiveness of his own good opinion of himself, yet he hath it not in himself to have a good opinion of the grace of God in the righteousness of Christ.  Wherefore he concludeth that if salvation be alone of the grace of God through the righteousness of Christ, and all of a man’s own is utterly rejected as to the justification of his person with God, then he is cast away.

Now, the reason of this sinking of heart is the sight that God has given him—­a sight of the uncleanness of his best performance.  The former sight of his immoralities did somewhat distress him, and make him betake himself to his own good deeds to ease his conscience; wherefore this was his prop, his stay.  But behold, now God has taken this from under him, and now he falls.  Wherefore his best doth also now forsake him, and fly away like the morning dew.

Besides, this revelation of the emptiness of his own righteousness brings also with it a further discovery of the naughtiness of his heart, in its hypocrisies, pride, unbelief, hardness of heart, deadness, and backwardness to all gospel obedience; which sight of himself lies like millstones upon his shoulders, and sinks him yet further into doubts and fears of damnation.  For bid him now receive Christ; he answers, he cannot, he dares not.  Ask him why he cannot; he will answer, he has no faith nor hope in his heart.  Tell him that grace is offered him freely; he says, “But I have no heart to receive it.”  Besides, he finds not, as he thinks, any gracious disposition in his soul, and therefore concludes he does not belong to God’s mercy, nor has an interest in the blood of Christ, and therefore dares not presume to believe.  Wherefore he sinks in his heart, he dies in his thoughts, he doubts, he despairs, and concludes he shall never be saved.

5.  But behold, the God of all grace leaves him not in this distress, but comes up now to him closer than ever; he sends the Spirit of adoption, the blessed Comforter, to him to tell him God is love, and therefore not willing to reject the broken in heart; bids him cry and pray for an evidence of mercy to his soul, and says, “Peradventure you may be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.”