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…

when the Lord calls to the soul to come and take all with nothing, take all or nothing. And hereupon it comes and drinks, as it is John 7.37. satisfying it self there, and professing, Lord I now desire no more, I have enough. Oh brethren, what faith there is among men at this day I cannot tell, but this I am sure was Abraham's faith, Gen. 17.1. and Davids faith, 2 Sam. 23.5. and Peters faith, John 6.68. and Pauls faith, Phil. 3.8, 9. Gal. 6.14. When the soul thus rests upon the rock Christ, the gates of hell may avail, but never prevail against such a one: he that hath set the whole world at his heels, and sold himself out of ⟨p. 193⟩all for this pearl, and this abundantly recompenseth all his losses, such a one hath Christ his own, and shall never be deprived of him again; the Lord never gives his elect any rest out of Christ, that they may find rest at last in Christ. When thus the soul is entered into rest, the whole soul is drawn here, and this is the great reason why many men famous in their generations and times in the eyes of others for Faith; yet rotten at the heart and thence turn Apostates, one proves covetous, another ambitious, another voluptuous, another grows conceited, another grows contentious, another grows formal. What is the reason of this? verily, they did rest upon Christ, but did never find rest in Christ, and therefore their whole soul never came to him; Christ after some time of profession grew a dry and common Christ unto them, though at first they wondered at him, and he was very sweet unto them; and hence they departed from him, as from an empty dry pit in Summer time where they found nothing to refresh them: but the Lord Jesus carries it towards all the faithful, as Elkanah did toward Hannah; though she was in a fit, much vexed and troubled for want of children, yet because he loved her exceeding dearly, he quiets her again with this, Am not I better unto thee then ten sons? so though they may be unquiet ⟨p. 194⟩