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…

the Lord Christ by his Gospel first lets in a new light, and it sees the Lord Jesus there bleeding before its eyes, and held forth as a propitiation to all that believe, to all that come to him; the mind sees this mystery, this exceeding rich grace and free mercy, and thinks happy are they that share in this mercy, but will the Lord look upon such a nothing as I? can such infinite treasures be my portion? the Lord therefore calls and bids him come away ⟨p. 189⟩and enter into the possession of it: Thy sins indeed are great, saith the Lord, yet remember blood-thirsty Manasseh, persecuting Paul was pardoned; nay remember my grace is free, for whose sake I invite thee; I beseech thee to come in, thy wants indeed are many, yet remember that thou hast therefore the more need and more cause to come, and that it is I that have made thee empty and poor on purpose, that thou mightest come: it is true, I have an eternal purpose to exclude many thousands from mercy, yet my purpose is unchangeable, never to cast off any that do come for it; I never did it yet, I will not do it unto thee, if thou dost come: it is true, many may presume, yet it is no presumption, but duty to obey my great command; and it is the greatest sin that ever thou didst, or canst commit, now to reject it, and refuse this grace; come therefore poor, weary, lost, undone creature. Hereupon the heart and will come, and rest, and roll themselves upon these bowels, and there rest; thus the whole soul comes, and this I say again is Faith. Just as it is with the lodestone drawing the iron, who would think that iron should be drawn by it? but there is a secret virtue coming from the stone which draws it, and so it comes and is united to it; so who would think that ever such an iron, heavy, earthy heart should be ⟨p. 190⟩drawn unto Christ? yet the Lord lets out a secret virtue of truth and sweetness from himself, which draws the soul to Christ, and so it comes.

the Lord Christ by his Gospell first lets in a new light, and it sees the Lord Jesus there bleeding before its eyes, and held forth as a propitiation to all that believe, to all that come to him; the mind sees this mystery, this exceeding rich grace and free mercy, and thinks happy are they that share in this mercy, but will the Lord look upon such a nothing as I? can such infinite treasures be my portion? the Lord therefore calls and bids him come away