The sound believer, or, A treatise of evangelical conversion discovering the work of Christs…The sound beleever, or, A treatise of evangelicall conversion discovering the work of Christs…

This is the second thing in the description of Faith, the soul of an humbled sinner is the subject or matter of Faith. I do not mean the matter out of which Faith is wrought, (for there is nothing in man out of which the Spirit begets it) but that wherein Faith is seated; I mean also the habit of Faith, not the principle of it; for that ⟨p. 174⟩is out of man in the Lord Jesus, who is therefore called our hope, as well as our strength; the soul therefore is the subject of Faith, called the heart, Rom. 10.9. compared with Mat. 6.21. for we cannot go or come to Christ in this life with our bodies, we are here absent from the Lord, 2 Cor. 5. but the soul can go to him, the heart can be with him, as the eye can see a 1000 miles off, and receive the species or image of the things it sees into it, so the soul enlightened by faith, can see Christ a far off, it can long for, choose, and rest upon the Lord of life, and receive the lively image of Christs glory in it; 2 Cor. 3. ult. If Christ were present upon earth, the soul (not the body) only could truly receive him; Christ comes to his elect only by his Spirit, and hence our spirits only are fit to receive him and close with him; thousands hear Christ outwardly, that inwardly are deaf to all Gods calls, their spirits see not, taste not, feel not; it is therefore the soul that is the subject of Faith: and I say it is an humbled empty soul which is the subject; for a full, proud, nbroken spirit cannot, nay will not receive Christ, as we have proved; and therefore Luke 14. the servant is commanded to bid the poor, halt, and blind, and lame, to come in; they would not make excuses as others did: they that were stung to death with fiery ⟨p. 175⟩Serpents, were the only men that the brazen Serpent was lifted up for them to look upon, and so be healed, John 3.14. and therefore the promise doth not run, If any man have wisdom let him ask it, but if any man want wisdom,